KUALA LUMPUR: Capital Markets Malaysia (CMM), an affiliate of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), today launched a simplified ESG disclosure guide (SEDG) to improve the availability of environment, social and governance (ESG) data and information by small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) within global supply chains.
The launch makes Malaysia the first country globally to provide such a guide for SMEs.
The SEDG comprises 35 priority disclosures that are aligned with local and global sustainability guidelines which will enable SMEs to respond to disclosure requests from multiple stakeholders, including but not limited to customers, investors, banks and regulators.
It is further categorised into basic, intermediate and advanced, to cater to the different levels of sustainability maturity of each SME.
The disclosures are applicable across all industries with different levels of priority, with SMEs encouraged to determine the significance and relevance of these disclosures to their companies.
"As we collectively transform and elevate Malaysia's economic system through the adoption of international standards and best practices, it is important to ensure that no SME is left behind. To support inclusive and extensive adoption, CMM will launch the Bahasa Malaysia and Simplified Mandarin versions of the SEDG by end 2023," SC executive chairman and CMM chairman Datuk Seri Awang Adek Hussin said.
Ppublic and market consultations were conducted with multiple stakeholder groups -- including large multinational and public listed companies, SMEs, and regulatory and policy stakeholders -- while formulating the guide to better understand the disclosure challenges, needs and expectations of SMEs within the supply chain.
"Beyond the guide, CMM has also launched our SEDG adopter programme to support supply chain actors," CMM general manager Navina Balasingam said.
The adopter programme will provide SMEs with access to in-person training, tutorials, and workshops nationwide to guide SMEs in disclosing ESG data.
The programme aims to facilitate learning and sharing of experiences from a community of practitioners facing similar successes and challenges in implementing ESG reporting.
CMM also plans to launch specialised sectoral disclosure guidance in early 2024.