Sustainability : Going Beyong Just Ideas will be organized at Malayana Ballroom, Sunway Lost World Hotel, Ipoh on 21st April 2016 (Thursday).

* For more information, please visit this website http://ecoknights.org.my/clf

Right up to 2015 Malaysia experienced high levels of economic growth. At the same time, several macro tends have indicated that the economy is shifting the nature of global economic activity, including growing urbanization, the shift of economic activity from agriculture and industrial production to services, and lower barriers to the mobility of labour, financial capital, and products. Unfortunately these trends placed strong pressures on the environment and also on society. A particular concern is the pressure of the current economy on accelerating the consumption of natural resources and carbon emissions threaten the capacity of the planet to sustain human activity. At the same time, unemployment, especially among young people, social inequality and immobility threaten to erode the social fabric and stability of society. Finally, repeated corporate governance failures and a series of crises in the financial system have dramatically undermined trust in business on the part of civil society. These environmental, social, and governance challenges are calling into question the legitimacy of capitalism, as it is largely being practiced today, as the preferred socio-economic system.

Business leaders are grappling with these issues, unsure of their expectations or responsibilities if there is no direct and immediate impact on profits. Policy makers have long recognized their role in regulating externalities, but are often unable to move with the agility and dexterity needed to address these issues. Social expectations around the role of the corporation in society are changing, but the power of social movements and the lack of consensus add greater uncertainty to already volatile business environments.

This is why we in EcoKnights believe that the time is right, in fact to some, it may be overdue, to hold a forum and discussion to explore how Malaysian corporate leaders today are addressing this concern and work progressively to instil sustainability by inventing new business strategies, models, processes and systems that maybe useful to top management personnel that will lead organizations in the 21st century. The aim of the forum (Sustainability: Going Beyond Just Ideas) is to provide a platform for business owners, managers, self-employed business individuals, NGOs, academia, social entrepreneurs, among others, to widen their perspectives on sustainability in their businesses. The forum will also allow the esteemed speakers to share and discuss fundamental business issues such as:

- How should companies rediscover their business models to succeed in a world with scarcer and more volatile production inputs?
- What types of innovation in processes, products, and business models could allow firms to improve simultaneously their financial as well as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance?
- How can business recover its reputation as an engine for economic and social prosperity and become a trustworthy institution?
- What is a potential new corporate governance model that could navigate and lead a corporation in the future?
- What is the role of investors and capital markets in catalysing progress towards more sustainable organizations?
- What is the role of NGOs and how can they become more effective creating systemic change?
- Could innovations in corporate reporting change managerial behaviours, beliefs and corporate culture, as well as decisions in the investment community and NGO campaigns?