Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) through the SME 360 campaign series of programmes with the Community for Brunei, on Friday, launched the “Sustainable Nation Campaign”, a whole-of-nation campaign aimed at encouraging small but impactful actions to fight the climate change crisis and move towards a circular economy specifically for small businesses and the public in general.
The four-month campaign, which runs from February to July, is a first of its kind, a multilevel, multi-agency campaign bringing together various partners across different sectors including government agencies such as the Brunei Climate Change Council and the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports; NGO’s such as the ASEAN Youth Advocacy Network, Bruwild, Borneo Futures and MySDG’s; and entrepreneurs such as Thryffy.
BIBD’s Head of Corporate Digital and Business Development from the Corporate Banking Group, Haji Shamri Haji Mahali in a statement said that the Sustainable Nation Campaign is part of the bank’s business, following through on one of the three pillars of BIBD Sustainability Framework – Responsible Entrepreneurship.
“The topic of sustainability may be new to a lot of us, and we hope the education and awareness we bring through the series of events under Sustainability Nation will help bring understanding for the MSMEs of steps how we can help to create a more circular economy. There is no doubt that SMEs have the potential to become the foundations of the domestic and global sustainability agenda,” he said.
He added: “We have one Earth and resources will be finite. Whatever our business or role in society, we need to remember that we need to leave a better life and a livable earth for our future generations”.
Forming the core of the Sustainable Nation campaign is the Eco-chat Series, run in partnership with AYAN Brunei, and intended to be a catalyst for change and education by starting a conversation and educating the public with industry experts and stakeholders.
Among the topics that will be covered in the Eco-chat Series will be climate crisis, sustainable development goals, plastic pollution and fast fashion.
The series, which will be open to the public and live-streamed to the wider community, will feature speakers from BIBD, the Brunei Climate Change Secretariat, Green Brunei, the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, BSP, BLNG, among others.
Community for Brunei will also be partnering with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) in activities related to International Women’s Day under the Sustainable Nation Campaign.
Acting Director of Social Services at MCYS Hajah Noraidah Haji Abdul Hamid said: “This year marks the 9th year of International Women’s Day celebrations in Brunei Darussalam, where we join the global campaign to raise awareness on issues relating to women and welfare issues as a whole.”
She further said that MCYS will be involved in the Eco-Chat Series, whereby the topic “Female Champions of Sustainability” is in line with the theme of International Women’s Day – “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Future”.
“On behalf of MCYS, I would like to express our sincere gratitude for this collaborative opportunity, and we look forward to its implementation. Through this opportunity and collaborative partnership, we hope we can bring about a lasting and sustainable change in the lives of women in Brunei Darussalam,” said the acting director.
There will also be a Produce Paper Bags initiative which aims to tackle plastic pollution, a youth-led Sustainable Fashion Entrepreneurship platform, tree planting initiatives towards Net Zero 2050, a Sustainable Schools initiative and an Eco-Cinema Festival.
Furthermore, vendors on the Community for Brunei virtual platform are also working together to achieve sustainability goals by pledging 1 per cent of their sales during the campaign period to contribute funds towards planting trees.
An impact model will be published on the Community for Brunei website to show the contributions made by the MSMEs towards reducing Brunei’s carbon. Members of the public are invited to support MSME vendors on Community for Brunei so that they can play an active role and contribute towards a worthy cause.
The Sustainable Nation Campaign is part of BIBD’s SME360 Series and aims to foster the development of a wider community of eco-allies in the effort to move Brunei towards a circular economy.
The campaign is also one of the initiatives undertaken as part of the BIBD Sustainability Framework and sees the bank taking a leadership role on sustainability issues in the domestic market.
This article was first published on 19 February 2022 in our Weekly E-Paper issue 181 |
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
