KUALA LUMPUR: While policies and frameworks are important, it is ultimately individuals who drive sustainability.
Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg said strategies, policies and roadmaps cannot deliver impact on their own without the human leadership needed to execute them effectively.
“After all this discussion on systems, frameworks and capital, we must return to a simple truth that none of these move without people. Strategies do not execute themselves, policies do not reduce emissions and roadmaps do not transform supply chains — people do,” he said.
He made these remarks in his special keynote address during the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB) Members Celebration Night 2026 at the InterContinental Hotel here on Thursday (Jan 29) evening.
Abang Johari paid tribute to those who are fundamental to driving sustainability efforts on the ground such as sustainability managers working quietly in the engine room, building baselines, reconciling data and ensuring credibility as net-zero commitments would remain as slogans without them.
He also paid tribute to chief sustainability officers who are bridge-builders who speak language of finance to chief financial officers and the language of science to engineers to ensure that sustainability is not a side function but a leadership priority.
“We also honour the chief executive officers because sustainability ultimately requires courage — the courage to allocate capital, to think long-term and to move away from business as usual before market forces compel us to do so.
“A forward-looking leader understands that profitability and sustainability are no longer trade-offs, they are increasingly one and the same,” he said.
Congratulating the award recipients, Abang Johari said the individuals and enterprises recognised were pace-setters demonstrating what is possible when ambition is matched with action and values are backed by investment.
“While governments can build the highway through policy, regulation and vision. But it is the private sector that must build the engines — and when those engines are powered by integrity, inclusion and sustainability, progress does not merely move forward — it moves forward, faster,” he said.
At the same time, the Premier hoped that the event would serve as a signal that Malaysia is ready not only to participate in the global green economy but to help shape its future.
“Tonight is not just a celebration, but it is also a signal. A signal that something fundamental has shifted in the way we think about sustainability in Malaysia.
“For many years, sustainability was framed as a gradual journey, centred on awareness, intention and aspiration. The era of gradual sustainability is over, we are no longer discussing why sustainability matters as we are now deciding how quickly we are prepared to act,” he said.
