CEOS call for collaborative effort in pursuit of sustainability, look up to young generation

They made the remarks during “CEO Panel: Adaptation for Sustainable Survival”, a discussion held on Saturday as part of the Thailand Supply Chain Network.

The aim was to share their experience with sustainability and encourage other entrepreneurs, employees, and business partners to join the sustainable journey as part of the global mega-trend.

The panellists included Roongrote Rangsiyopash, CEO of Siam Cement Group, Supachai Jiarawanon, CEO of CP Group, and Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi, CEO of ThaiBev.

New generation
Rungrote, Supachai, and Thapana unanimously agreed that involving the younger generation is a critical shortcut to accelerating the adoption of sustainability principles.

They made it clear that there may be no shorter path to achieving sustainability. However, allowing the younger generation to take the lead, make decisions, and make some mistakes would be a great shortcut to strengthening the country's system for sustainability to thrive, the said.

"Our job now is providing some space to groom and sharpen their potential,” Supachai said.

He proposed changing the paradigm from knowledge-based to project-based learning, which would allow younger learners to identify problems, explore solutions, and develop action plans with others.

He emphasised the importance of incorporating sustainability studies into the curriculum so that students could develop a public-minded mindset with empathy and compassion for others.

Supachai and Rungrote both agreed. He stated that executives should stop being bossy and instead serve as coaches, providing some guidelines while assisting in the balancing of financial aspects, the environmental impact, and technology in order to keep the company healthy.

Thapana pointed out that involving the younger generation in conjunction with technology and innovation would strengthen Thailand's competitiveness and unlock limitless possibilities for sustainable development.

Meanwhile, companies should transform their internal structures to foster the younger generation and groom them as the future workforce, he said, adding that companies should encourage new talents to step outside their comfort zone and provide them with opportunities to work with various business units.

Roongrote Rangsiyopash

Public-Private-People partnership
Aside from focusing on developing the future workforce, the three CEOs emphasised the importance of the government.

SCG CEO Rungrote said that the importance of sustainable practises is now recognised by all sectors. However, government involvement is required for the action to be widely adopted rapidly.

He cited the US$900 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of the United States as an example.

Rather than enforcing the law and forcing all parties to comply, the US government enacted the IRA to encourage businesses to invest in the green economy and receive supportive incentives such as tax exemptions and government subsidiaries, he explained.

"Within a year of the Act's enactment, there has been $200 billion in investment inflows to green businesses. For the first time, investment in the solar cell industry in the United States exceeded that in the oil and gas industry in 2022. This is a very interesting model," he noted.

He believed that with the incentive model, wind, hydrogen, and other renewable energy would grow exponentially and eventually replace fossil fuels such as natural gas, oil, and coal in the United States within the next 10 years.

Supachai Jiarawanon

CP Group CEO Supachai dwelled on the current scenario of the global sustainable path, which has achieved only 12% of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

With the SDG deadline approaching in 2030, he said that countries around the world, including Thailand, had a lot of work to do.

Fortunately, he said Thailand is on the right track, as the country is leading the Asean region in the sustainability movement. Thailand, however, should not be satisfied with this status.

In his opinion, the country now requires more innovations to explore new solutions.

Incentives, he says, are a good place to start, but innovation is the key to unlocking any possibilities for tackling any problems in a positive and inclusive way.

However, innovations cannot emerge in the absence of a clear goal, mutual motivation, and intense pressure, he said.

He explained that a farmer may invent a new operational planting process that could absorb carbon to replace the traditional method that emits carbon. Such innovations would undoubtedly occur if a person is given a little push while having a clear goal and mindset, as well as outside support.

Meanwhile, he noted that an explicit mindset, along with precise goals, innovations, and a transparent process, would result in the creation of robust market mechanisms, which would eventually drive the sustainable cycle.

Thapana Sirivadhanabhakdi

ThaiBev CEO Thapana highlighted three words for sustainable survival: run, hide, and fight.

He defined “Run” as an understanding of the global trend and the readiness to act when faced with disruptions and changes. “Hide” implies remaining calm in order to analyse situations with caution. And “Fight” indicates adaptation and action.

However, as sustainability is everyone's issue, the move cannot be accomplished on its own.

Collaboration and partnership are required to ensure that no one is left behind, he said.