Sustainability no longer a cost centre but core strategy, say panellists at UOB-BT dialogue

The panel spotlights two Sustainability Impact Award recipients as examples of how integrating ESG can drive value, scale and differentiation. By Mia Pei

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From left: The panel comprised The Business Times' memberships editor Dylan Tan, UOB's head of ESG solutions Adrian Ow, SBS Transit's group CEO Jeffrey Sim, and Speco Singapore's founder and CEO Benjamin Chua.

(PHOTO: PHYLLICIA WANG)

Sustainability is no longer a compliance checkbox or a cost burden, but a strategic lever for business growth and resilience.

This was the consensus among leaders from finance, infrastructure, as well as small and medium-sized enterprise sectors at the Sustainability Impact Dialogue jointly organised by The Business Times and UOB on Oct 7.

Companies making sustainability a core part of their strategy - embedding it in boardrooms, having CEOs who champion it, and tying it to business outcomes are the ones turning it into real competitive advantage, said Adrian Ow, head of environmental, social and governance (ESG) solutions at UOB.

"They don’t outsource it. They don't sideline it as a side project," he said. “The key thing is this: Sustainability cannot live in the margins of a sustainability report. It has got to be the plan.”

Ow flagged the most common misstep companies make: delegating ESG to a standalone department instead of aligning it with top-level strategic goals.