As consumer trends change, Thai businesses urged to focus on sustainability

The advice was based on its latest survey, which revealed that the new generation consumers preferred products and services from brands that focus on sustainability.

In a recent online seminar “Enterprise of the Future Sustainability as Digital Transformation Catalyst”, hosted by Thansettakij newspaper, Sawat Asdaron, Managing Director of IBM Thailand and Managing Partner, IBM Consulting, said sustainability practices are not just a legal requirement, but they can be used to create business opportunities and strengthen the organisation’s competitiveness, especially in its quest toward successful digital transformation.

“Our survey found that since 2020, more consumers are emphasising on purchasing products and services from brands that have demonstrated sustainability in their operations,” he said. 

“Up to 62 per cent of the samples have said that they are willing to switch brands or consuming behaviours in order to reduce environmental impacts, while about half have said that they do not mind paying more as the price of sustainability.”

Sawat added that IBM had started publishing environmental reports 30 years ago and set its carbon emission goal for the first time in 2000. The company has been playing an active role in promoting the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at the international level. In 2021, IBM set the goal of zero greenhouse gases emissions in 2030 through its multi-dimensional plan. “For example, IBM aims to switch to renewable energy in its cloud data centres at 75 per cent within 2025, and at 90 per cent by 2030. We also mandate our major suppliers to comply to environmental management standards,” he said.

“All these efforts have resulted in the company, last year, receiving the Terra Carta Seal from the Prince of Wales, which is granted only to global corporations demonstrating their commitment to, and momentum towards, the creation of genuinely sustainable markets.”

Sawat also cited the results of the 2022 Global CEO Study by IBM Institute for Business Value, which found that CEOs from around the world thought achieving sustainability to be the highest challenge. However, more than half of CEOs from the study believed that sustainability will be the top priority of most organisations in the next two years.

“In Thailand, the topic of sustainability is not new and is already widely known. However, Thai organisations are still lacking tools to prepare detailed sustainability reports, which require in-depth analysis of high amounts of data such as climate risks, carbon footprint data, building management data, manufacturing matrix, transport data, energy and utility usage, and data on carbon emissions both directly and indirectly. With the high amount of data and complexity, companies will need the help of the latest technology such as artificial intelligence [AI].”

“Realising the importance of technology in sustainability practices, IBM earlier this year acquired Envizi, a company that produces analytic and management software to report environmental goals as well as evaluate the possibility and risk of sustainability achievements based on standards and regulations,” said Sawat.

Ruangsak Laiwetpitaya, Data and Technology Transformation, IBM Consulting, added that entrepreneurs in Thailand are active about employing sustainability business practices, especially in energy and transport, thanks to support from the government, which has enabled companies to switch to alternative energy to reduce emissions.

“Setting a carbon net-zero goal must be done step by step, but first you must know which parts of your business are responsible for the carbon emissions,” he said. “Then, strategies must be set to reduce the emissions either by using less power or switching to sustainable options such as solar farm. After we achieve the fullest optimisation and can offset our carbon emissions, then we can trade carbon credit with partners and help the whole business operation achieve the sustainability goals.”

Pakorn Suriyabhivadh, Thailand Industrial Sector Executive, IBM Consutling, added that organisations should not view sustainability practice as simply using less resources. “Rather, organisations should survey their carbon footprint and try to optimise their processes so that they could move towards net zero. Alternately, organisations could explore the ‘garage model’ approach, in which they try to create new businesses that reduce environmental impact or promote improvement of their main operations."

Pawasut Seewirot, Software Leader, IBM Technology, Thailand, added that in the next 1-2 years she expected most companies in the stock market to include ESG (environment, social, governance) in their strategic goals, with focus on reducing carbon emissions, improving manpower and promoting transparency.

“To achieve the ESG goals, organisations must make sure that stakeholders, employees, communities, partners and suppliers are on the same page, and that they have efficient tools to track progress and address shortcomings. Most importantly, they must be able to manage their data using appropriate technology,” she said.

“IBM has all the tools that entrepreneurs need, either for structured and unstructured data, using technology such as AI and Internet of Things to link all related parties under the same platform to ensure unified moving forward in the same direction.”

Interested people can view the seminar “Enterprise of the Future Sustainability as Digital Transformation Catalyst” at https://www.facebook.com/thansettakij/videos/1080137219588781