Navigating Climate-Related Risks and Sustainable Finance: A Critical Review of ESG Transformation in Malaysian Plam Oil Industry

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🔬研究者:Provides a conceptual framework (ETR) for integrating climate risk and ESG in plantation industries, useful for further empirical testing.

🏢実務担当者:Offers insights into ESG practices and sustainable finance strategies for palm oil producers and supply chain companies.

🏛政策担当者:Highlights the need for regulatory support and stakeholder collaboration to enhance climate resilience in the plantation sector.

The climate change has become a critical global challenge for environmental sustainability, economic development, and corporate performance in industries. The plantation sector, particularly the palm oil industry, is highly exposed to climate-related risks because it depends on environmental stability and favourable weather conditions. This case study is about SD Guthrie Berhad, a leading global producer of palm oil, and how they manage climate-related risks through sustainable finance and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The study discusses major concerns related to environment and climate change due to plantation activities, including deforestation, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and climate change-induced operational disruptions. It also looks at SD Guthrie Berhad’s challenges on sustainability transformation, regulatory compliance, climate governance and operational resilience. The study also evaluates the company’s sustainability efforts, including its commitment to net-zero emissions, methane capture activities, renewable energy projects, biodiversity preservation programs, NDPE (No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation) guidelines, and ESG reporting standards. The analysis is guided by the Stakeholder Theory, Legitimacy Theory and Risk Management Theory. Research findings indicate that climate-related risks are increasingly impacting the operational continuity, financial sustainability, investor confidence and environmental accountability of the plantation sector. Therefore, effective ESG governance and sustainable finance practices are critical to increasing organisational resilience and long-term competitiveness. Based on the findings, this study proposes an ESG Transformation Roadmap (ETR) as a conceptual framework for integrating climate risk management, ESG governance, sustainable finance and stakeholder engagement to support climate-resilient decision-making. The study concludes that continuous sustainability transformation, climate adaptation strategies and closer collaboration among companies, regulators, investors and stakeholders are crucial in supporting sustainable development in Malaysia’s plantation industry.

• semanticscholar https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/uploads/vol10-iss7-pg747-758-202607_pdf.pdffirst seen 2026-07-31 06:49:18 · last seen 2026-08-01 06:26:07