Telekom Malaysia Berhad : TM TREE-PLANTING CAMPAIGN LATEST IN GROUP’S ESG EFFORTS...

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​Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) today launched an initiative titled Program Kelestarian Hari Esok TM: Kempen Penanaman Pokok (TM Towards A Sustainable Tomorrow: Tree Planting Campaign) - an expansion of its short- and medium-term ESG commitments towards environmental sustainability, operational improvement, and value creation for the wider community.

Aligning with the Government's Penghijauan Malaysia (Greening Malaysia) programme and international aspirations namely the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, this campaign is the latest in TM's commitment to plant 12,000 trees throughout the country by the end of 2022, to offset greenhouse gas emissions and slow down the impact of climate change.

This campaign follows closely on the back of TM's earlier Gutta Percha tree planting programme, which saw the planting of 5,000 Nyatoh Taban Merah heritage trees in 23 locations in conjunction with World Telecommunications and Information Society Day 2022 - which also garnered a Malaysia Book of Record recognition.

Launched at the Sultan Idris Shah Forest Education Centre, Puchong, TM's latest campaign was graced by YB Datuk Ali Anak Biju, Deputy Minister of Energy and Natural Resources. Also in attendance were YBrs Ahmad Norhad Zahari, Secretary of Communication Technology, Ministry of Communications and Multimedia; Amin Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan Hijau Malaysia; Professor Dato' Dr. Abdul Mua'ti @ Zamri Ahmad, Director, Centre for Strategy and Corporate Relations, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM); Tan Sri Mohammed Azlan Hashim, Chairman of TM's Board of Directors; and Imri Mokhtar, TM's Group Chief Executive Officer.

Co-organised with Yayasan Hijau Malaysia, Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia and UPM, the campaign supports the Government's commitment to plant 100 million trees by 2025, with 5,000 trees being planted during this latest effort, and another 2,000 to be planted in the later part of the year.

60 Warga TM (TM employees) participated in planting the first 100 trees, with all of TM's designated tree-planting sites to be known as "unifi Green Zones".

YB Datuk Ali Anak Biju said, "Malaysia serves as a habitat for thousands of flora and fauna species and is the 'green lung' for oxygen generation and carbon storage for Malaysia and neighbouring countries. Our rainforests and bio-diverse ecosystems remain popular ecotourism destinations for local and international tourists, and serve in furthering environmental research and education.

"Over the last decade, tree planting initiatives have intensified to mitigate the effects of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change stemming from commercial and industrial activities and population growth.

"I am proud and grateful to see corporate organisations, government agencies as well as NGOs and education institutions collaborating on green initiatives with greater commitment, such as today's event by TM and its partners. I hope more corporate companies will follow in their footsteps to help us realise our Greening Malaysia goals," he added.

Tan Sri Mohammed Azlan explained, "Our ESG commitment is something we take seriously as it aligns with our transformation towards becoming a human-centred technology company. This pledge is reflected in our innovative solutions and services, and our efforts to improve business operations and fulfil our social responsibility to our customers, partners and communities."

"In addition to tree planting, TM's Klang Valley Core Data Centre, Iskandar Puteri Core Data Centre and KL City Data Centre have been powered by renewable energy since January 2022 - significantly reducing the impact of our business operations while supporting the nation's digitalisation. We have achieved an 11% emission reduction in Q1 2022 against the baseline year of 2019 - putting us on track to achieve our goals of reducing emissions by 30% in 2024, 45% by 2030 and Net-Zero by 2050," he shared.

TM also continues to strengthen its social and governance pillars - continuing to serve as the nation's connectivity leader and providing high speed internet access to at least 70% of premises nationwide. The Group has also ensured 30% women representation among its Board of Directors and Senior Management, and works with organisations such as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to uphold zero-tolerance towards corruption. TM continues to maintain the highest standards of corporate governance in all its partnerships and undertakings.