Banpu Power chief vows to follow ESG principles for sustainable growth
Businesses need to adopt Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) to maintain growth, stakeholders' confidence and sustainable development, the top executive at electricity producer Banpu Power said on Thursday.
During a group interview, the company's CEO, Kirana Limpaphayom, said that many industries had started paying attention to ESG amid concerns over climate change and energy security.
He said Banpu Power has established an ESG committee to work on energy security, sustainability and ensuring stakeholders' benefits at the same time. "Balance in creating an energy portfolio is important," he said.
Kirana said Banpu Power adheres strictly to the "Triple E" principle — ecosystem, excellence and ESG — to create a greener and smarter ecosystem, along with boosting confidence among investors.
Banpu Power is focusing on boosting the efficiency of electricity production to save cost and meet consumers’ demand without causing an impact on environment and society, he said.
He said Banpu Power had adopted the ESG principles in its investments, value chain, greenhouse gas reduction, carbon trading, human resource development and transparent business operation to meet international standards.
Banpu Power will continue improving its ESG work in a bid to be a model for other companies, he said, adding that the company is interesting in investing in carbon capture and storage (CCS) to further move the company towards sustainability.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the company’s ESG committee, Patchanita Thamyongkit, said the panel was ensuring that the company followed policies, direction and targets that were properly aligned with the ESG principles.
She said sustainability, value chain, environment and technology could be developed at the same pace to boost the company's efficiency, including cost management and environment preservation.
"We should seek balance to serve sustainable production," she said, adding that this would help attract investors to cooperate with the company on sustainable development.
However, she said there were many challenges on adopting ESG, such as, stakeholders, rules and regulations in each country, climate change and geopolitics.
"Many people believe that ESG caused only difficulties, but we should look for opportunities from it," she said.
She advised the government to be clear in its focus on sustainable development. "If we cannot keep up with technology, we cannot see what the future of energy will be," she added.
Sanicha Pinyocheep, ESG committee secretary, said Banpu Power was operating its business to give the people access to electricity, manage risks to boost confidence among stakeholders and prevent impacts on the environment and society.
"The committee would evaluate and set up key performance indicators to ensure operational efficiency annually," she said.
She said Banpu Power’s work related to ESG were in line with six of the United Nations' sustainable development goals (SDGs), including No. 7 (affordable and clean energy), No. 8 (decent work and economic growth), No. 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure), No. 12 (responsible consumption and production), No. 13 (climate action), and No. 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions).
She added that Banpu Power had received many awards, such as being listed in the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)'s Thailand Sustainability Investment for five consecutive years and being listed in S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook 2022.
