Promoting and enabling
responsible business conduct in ASEAN

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​ASEAN CSR Fellowship 2018
kicks off in Kuala Lumpur

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Class of 2018 Fellows with H.E. Senator Datuk Paul Low
 

The second run of the ASEAN CSR Fellowship was conducted on 5-9 March 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Representing 9 ASEAN member states, the Fellowship cohort is composed of 23 young professionals from the private sector, civil society, and the academe.
 

Read more here.
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SASPO affirms commitment on
​sustainable palm oil

The Southeast Asia Alliance for Sustainable Palm Oil (SASPO) conducted its first ever publicised event on 26 February, with Minister for Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) of Singapore, Mr. Masagos Zulfiki, as the guest of honor. The press conference was held in recognition of the member countries' efforts to source sustainable palm oil, as well as to raise public awareness of SASPO.

In addition, SASPO also recently launched their first publication, the SASPO business guide on sustainable palm oil in Singapore.
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Read more here.
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• ​ACN partners with ASEAN BAC as CSR Champion
• ACN celebrates International Women's Day
• Follow ACN on Instagram!​

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ACN's CEO Mr. Thomas Thomas was a guest panelist for luncheon roundtable discussion hosted by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Singapore on 20 March 2018. Entitled "Responsible Business Conduct Abroad - Keeping Canadian Companies at the Forefront", Mr. Thomas shared perspectives on corporate social responsibility in ASEAN. ACN's Programme Manager Ms Melissa Chong, and Communications Manager Ms Princess Meeralith Celestino also participated in the discussion.
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Learn more about the event here.
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• ​​ILO Global Business Network on Forced Labour and Human Trafficking's Consultation on Responsible Business Conduct and Competition in Supply Chains in Kathmandu, Nepal on 26 March, where ACN's CEO Mr. Thomas Thomas shared ASEAN perspectives on responsible business. Senior Programme Manager Karen Sim also attended the Consultative Forum on Regional Cooperation against Human Trafficking, Labour Exploitation and Slavery at Sea in Bali, Indonesia on 29 March where she spoke about the role of the private sector in improving working conditions.​
• Regional Workshop Building Resilience through Participation hosted by the Embassy of Sweden in collaboration with the UN Economics and Social Commission for the Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in Bangkok, Thailand on 26-27 March.  ACN is represented by Programme Director Lynda Lim, and Senior Manager, Advocacy, Research and Communications Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.

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​The Department of Trade and Investment (DTI) of the Philippines pushes for the agenda of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME's) in the region. This commitment was made clear as the Philippines prepares to host "ASEAN MSME Development Summit: The 7Ms Towards a Prosperous ASEAN MSMEs" on 14 July of this year. The summit will discuss MSME development, fully taking advantage of regional integration.
 

Read more from the Philippine DTI here.

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Indonesia's largest pulp and paper producer, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), is in hot water amidst its failure to implement its flagship zero-deforestation policy. Local and international NGOs condemned the company's activities, which have decimated over 20,000 sq km of natural forest in a period of three decades. Despite the company's recent efforts in the past 5 years, reports show that very little progress has been made, while pointing out key issues that contribute to its failure: deforestation threats of its new mills, land conflicts, and ineffective measures to restore degraded peatland.​
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Read more from Eco-Business here.

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Singapore produced less solid waste in 2017, and food waste recycling also improved. However, despite a nationwide recycling campaign that started in 2014, figures suggest that the programme may be failing. The National Environment Agency's (NEA) reports that Singapore actually recycled less in 2017 compared to the year prior, putting the blame on smaller amount of wood waste, plastic and paper that were being recycled.
 

Read more from the Straits Times here.

 

The Ship to Shore project of the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that Thailand continues to face the problem of modern slavery among Thai fishermen and seafood workers. While the report showed some progress, Thailand’s multibillion-dollar seafood industry is still mired by global criticism after investigations showed forced labor, trafficking and violence on fishing boats and at onshore processing facilities. The ILO report recommends a multi-sectoral approach in order to effectively enforce Thai law to create decent work conditions in the fishing industry.
 

Learn more about ILO's Ship to Shore here.
 

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​In a surprising move in the American legal system, climate change science and history lectures will be conducted by a San Francisco federal judge presiding over lawsuits against large oil companies that are accused of lying about climate change in order to protect business interest. The parties required to participate in the tutorial are five (5) of the world's largest oil companies and lawyers involved in two (2) states in California.

​Read more from the Washington Post here.

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​London-based NGO, Human Rights Watch has tagged Indian jewelers like Tanishq, TBZ and Kalyan Jewellers as involved in sourcing illegally-produced gold and diamonds from places accused of human rights abuses. Their report states: "Sometimes children have been injured and even killed doing hazardous work in small-scale gold or diamond mines. Communities have faced ill-health and environmental harm because mines have polluted waterways with toxic chemicals. And civilians have suffered enormously as abusive armed groups have enriched themselves through mining."

​Read more from Business Standard here.

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A global-ranking conducted by HSBC revealed that India is the most vulnerable country to climate change, followed by Pakistan, the Philippines and Bangladesh. The bank assessed 67 developed, emerging and frontier economies, which comprise almost a third of the world’s nation states, 80% of the world's total population, and 94% of global gross domestic product.
 

Read more from Reuters here.

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