“The contribution of the Energy and Water Agency as a lead partner was important in raising awareness on the importance of, among others, water conservation, waste management and reduction, and sustainable development,” HSBC says in the press statement.

Greening The Islands is an innovative organisation supporting the self-sufficiency and sustainability of islands worldwide, and focussing on enabling cooperation between local authorities, businesses, citizens and academia.

As part of HSBC’s Global Water Programme, the bank has invested close to €1m in water and other sustainability initiatives in the island nation, such as Catch the Drop, Water Explorer, and the Malta CSR Institute – Together for Sustainability.

HSBC Malta also supports the Malta CSR Institute that has recently launched the Business Against Food Waste, helping restaurants to better manage food supplies; and Invest+, a series of financial literacy workshops organised with the Malta Business Bureau.

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The Malta Sustainability Forum aspires to raise awareness about sustainability and empower citizens — whether as individuals or as part of organisations — to make conscious decisions that lead to a more sustainable lifestyle.

Some twenty local and international speakers will discuss about their ways of trying to make the planet a better place to live will present practical cases, followed by moderated discussions.

The forum — organised by APS Bank and cosponsored by Cool, Gasan Mamo, Go and PwC — is considered the most forward-thinking event about sustainability to take place in the island nation this year. Organisers are planning to turn it into an annual event, which they believe would contribute to position Malta at the forefront of the sustainability agenda.

“As Malta’s community bank, we are dedicated to creating sustainable solutions that help to safeguard our clients and our society. We are thrilled to be part of this event, and to bring some of the best minds together to champion and inspire people from all walks of life to achieve sustainability in their own lives, homes and organisations,” said APS Bank CEO Marcel Cassar.

Starting at 11am, the conference aims to support participants in developing a better understanding of the social, environmental and economic challenges the world is facing in the context of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations.

The forum will begin with a speech by Malta’s President George Vella, and a keynote by environment minister José Herrera. Other speakers will then include Adrien Labaeye, Sharing Cities Fellow and PhD researcher at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin; Carl Pratt, Founder of Future Planet; Nicole Klaesener-Metzner from the Aegle Foundation; and Zen D’Amato Gautam from Eco Market Malta amongst others.

Registration for the Malta Sustainability Forum is now open, with ticket prices starting at €20. Further information is available at the official webpage of the event.

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The course started in October 2018 and has involved a series of talks on water conservation, energy consumption, waste management and reduction, and sustainable development. 

It has been designed by Dr Alexandra Mifsud from the Centre of Environmental Education Research (CEER) at the University of Malta and Amanda Zahra from the Water and Energy Agency.

Funded by the HSBC Water Programme, this event was directed at businesses, where members of staff were trained on the change of behaviour they can make related to the safeguarding of the environment and leading a more sustainable lifestyle both at home and at the workplace, as the press release says. 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a main focus of the “Together for Sustainability” course, are in line with what CSR is all about and that is the reason why the CORE Platform was given an opportunity to speak on the subject during the last session, the press statement underscores.

CSR awareness raising

The aim of the European CSR day is to raise awareness on what CSR is, the importance of having it incorporated within a business strategy and framework, and the benefits that it yields, both to the company and its employees, as well as to the community and environment it operates in.

Helga Ellul, President of CORE Platform, explained that CSR must always start internally. From here one can then start engaging in CSR activities outside of the company. Nowadays, consumers and customers are becoming more aware of responsible corporations, in fact, many are those that choose the services of a company that engages in CSR instead of one that does not, Ms Ellul added.

Thus, CSR helps to improve the reputation of the business as well and it must also never be done solely to gain a better image as that will not work in the long-run. 

Finally, Ms Ellul focused on the misconception of CSR being charity is still an issue and that this is something that one needs to work on to overcome.

Developing sustainable economies

“At HSBC, we are proud to be playing a leading role in developing sustainable economies internationally and locally. Today, our sustainability approach focuses on three main areas: sustainable finance; sustainable supply chains; and employability and financial capability. In each of these areas, we have begun to take genuine strides forward,” said HSBC Bank Malta CEO Andy Beane.

“We have set out a series of commitments to contribute to the global transition to a low-carbon economy. We have also pledged long-term support to help people access education and training, so they can acquire the skills they need to succeed in today’s workplace,” Mr Beane added. “And through our partnerships with customers, NGOs and other key stakeholders, we are encouraging responsible business in global supply chains. Bringing together more than 500 people from over 60 organisations across Malta to learn about sustainability is core to this strategy as we need to work together to accelerate the country’s transition to a low carbon, sustainable future that we can feel proud to pass on to the next generation,” the HSBC Malta chief concluded.

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