KUALA LUMPUR: Lotus’s Malaysia, one of Malaysia’s leading retailers, realises the risk and impact of climate change which is likely to intensify. For this reason, they are determined to play a part in reducing the impact it’s operations have on the climate.
Towards this aim, Lotus’s is determined to align with its’ parent company, Charoen Pokhphand Group’s (CP Group’s) ambitions to become carbon neutral by 2030. Driven by this ambition, Lotus’s aligns it’s climate related efforts with not only United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) but also other globally recognised standards, such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol), Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Paris Agreement.
These globally recognised standards allow Lotus’s to initiate strategic measures and track their progress towards achievement of climate goals by 2030.
Lotus’s environmental management strategy aims to enhance energy efficiency to reduce environmental impact. This multi-pronged strategy ranges from the selection of efficient and high-performance operational equipment in their stores, right up to the increase in clean energy mix via solar panel installations.
Kathleen Teh, Energy Manager at Lotus’s said, “My job as energy manager includes the implementation of our energy efficiency strategy, driven by our purpose of moving towards carbon neutrality while saving operational costs.
“Our milestones include a 20% increase in efficiency in our refrigeration units and a reduction in refrigeration down-time, allowing us to benefit from cost savings and operational resilience.”
Overall, Lotus’s Malaysia has achieved a 40% reduction in carbon emissions, contributing to CP Group’s carbon neutrality targets by 2030.
According to Sanjay Menon, the Sustainability Manager at Lotus’s, the company is diligently working towards aligning its overall sustainability strategies with internationally recognised standards such as the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)
“In the long term, the aim remains to operationalise sustainability within the organisation in line with the company’s aspiration to be recognised as a sustainable brand, creating value for our stakeholders through positive environment and social impact.
“Increasing our renewable energy mix helps Lotus’s reduce carbon emissions. This puts us on a clear path towards our mid-to-long term aspiration of achieving recognition for our climate related efforts from international bodies such as the CPD, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project,” said Sanjay.
In the long-term, Lotus’s has recently entered a 20 year Power Purchase Agreement with Altervim Co Ltd to install an additional 22 solar photovoltaic panels across it’s stores in Malaysia, further strengthening it’s position as a sustainable retailer.
