Developing people in the 5.0 era , creating a sustainable society of wisdom, important goals from the 6 GCNT Forum 2023 stages. What is the story of developing people in the 5.0 era? What will it be like? Follow this article.
November 27, 2023: The Global Compact Network Thailand (UNGCNT) in collaboration with the United Nations organized the GCNT Forum 2023: Partners to Develop People in the 5.0 Era towards a Sustainable Knowledge Society, inviting UNGCNT member business leaders and partners in various sectors to collaborate in driving the potential of human capital in the 5.0 era. There were 5 forums with 5 important topics: (1) Changes to sustainability in the context of Thailand, especially in the human dimension; (2) Shaping people to move forward and not leaving anyone behind; (3) Transforming people equitably into a green organization; (4) Awakening the potential of people to accept change throughout the supply chain; (5) Uplifting people, creating social power; and finally, (6) youth representatives sharing perspectives on sustainability through the people of the future generation.
1. Transformation towards sustainability in the Thai context, especially in the human dimension.
The first stage opened with the vision of CEOs from UNGCNT member organizations, including:
- Dr. Harald Link, Chief Executive Officer, B.Grimm Power Public Company Limited
- Mr. Tan Choon Hin, Managing Director, UOB Thailand
- Ms. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, Chairman of the Executive Committee and Group Chief Executive Officer, WHA Corporation Public Company Limited
The three of them exchanged ideas about the changes towards sustainability in the human dimension, and agreed that this requires working together, sharing the same DNA, and making everyone understand the changes and have consensus in the same direction in order to move forward together.
Dr. Harald Link , B.Grimm, pointed out that people must be viewed as business partners, not as resources.
Ms. Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, WHA Group believes that sustainability transformation must start with “leaders” and UOB executives emphasized on constantly inspiring and nurturing employees and partners in both digital technology and sustainability to move forward together.
Mr Tan Choon Hin, UOB, said that from today onwards, the economy will see a huge amount of money invested in innovative technologies to lead our world to net zero emissions, and that is a significant opportunity for everyone, from all sectors.
2. Shape people to move forward and leave no one behind.
The next stage was an exchange of experiences by representatives from UNGCNT member organizations, including:
- Ms. Tuangporn Bunyasaranan, Assistant Managing Director, Corporate Communications and Sustainability Management, CK Power Public Company Limited
- Mr. Chu Lim, Executive Vice President, Supply Chain, Unilever Group Thailand and Malaysia
- Dr. Chawapol Chariyawiroj, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies (Thailand) Co., Ltd.
The three of them exchanged views on how to shape people to move forward. All organizations stated that when “sustainability” is set as one of the organization’s strategies, developing “people” without leaving anyone behind will be carried out in a tangible, continuous and measurable way, starting from within the organization, i.e. employees, and expanding outside the organization.
Ms. Tuangporn Bunyasaranan from CK Power shared her experience in building trust and creating shared value with the community by promoting both hardware and software to develop skills and innovations that extend from “local wisdom”, generating additional income for the community.
“Although we use world-class and environmentally friendly technology to generate electricity, in the community, we choose to work with the community, supporting local wisdom that has been passed down from generation to generation, whether it is handicrafts, weaving, and developing new products to suit market needs.”Ms. Tuangporn Bunyasaranan from CK Power Co., Ltd.
Mr. Chu Lim from Unilever mentioned the importance of employees who need to create an attitude that sees sustainability as a part of their work, not separate from each other. In addition, there are sustainability operations with customers in each locality through more than 400 brands worldwide.
Dr. Chawapol Jariyawiroj from Huawei told us that they are promoting technology accessibility and becoming a foundation of people’s lives, especially in communities and the elderly, by doing R&D to equip people with digital knowledge and to enable them to adapt to technology.
3. Transforming people fairly into a green organization
In the third stage, there was an exchange of experiences by representatives from UNGCNT member organizations, including:
- Dr. Netithorn Pratitsarn, Executive Assistant to the President and Senior Executive Vice President, Office of International Cooperation on Sustainability and Corporate Communications, Charoen Pokphand Group Co., Ltd.
- Mr. Kelvin Tan, Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Finance & Investment ASEAN, HSBC
- Mr. Nattawut Intras, Director of Sustainable Development Office, Siam Cement Public Company Limited (SCG)
- Mr. Eric Roeder, Technical Specialist on Green Jobs, Climate Action and Resilience through Just Transition, International Labour Organization (ILO), Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific.
The four of them exchanged views on a just transition for people. Mr. Eric Roeder from the ILO defined green work as work related to environmental change and the development of green skills for everyone in society.
Dr. Netithorn Pratitsarn from Charoen Pokphand Group stated that the transition to a green organization must begin with strategic planning, direction, and indicators from within the organization before expanding to the outside throughout the supply chain, especially by setting a perspective on working with AI until creating reports with clear and transparent indicators.
Like SCG, Mr. Nattawut Intras told us that they are moving towards the Net Zero goal by driving green growth from within the organization first, then expanding the drive to other parts, with the roadmap being ESG 4Plus as a common goal.
“Any transition needs balance. We should build a roadmap that integrates sustainability plans and business plans into one plan based on trust, transparency and accountability.”Mr. Nattawut Intras from SCG
HSBC’s Kevin Tan shared that financial institutions are looking at the potential risks and transformation opportunities of their customers, especially SMEs, but at the same time, they need to train their employees to see new job opportunities as they move towards a greener society.
4. Awakening people’s potential to embrace change throughout the supply chain
In the 4th forum, there was an exchange of experiences by representatives from UNGCNT member organizations, including:
- Mr. Kobboon Srichai, Chief Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations Officer, Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL.
- Dr. Wichai Narongvanich, Assistant Managing Director, Kasikornbank Public Company Limited
- Mr. Sunthorn Yongwibulsiri, ESG and Sustainability Director, SCG Packaging Public Company Limited
- Mr. Dan Pathomwanich, Chief Executive Officer of NR Instant Produce Public Company Limited
The four of them discussed the issue of awakening the potential of people in the supply chain, with CPF sharing that developing the potential of people starts from within the organization itself to create a common understanding and then expands outside.
Mr. Kobboon Srichai shared with us that especially farmers, who are considered partners of CPF, are constantly being enhanced with knowledge and skills to grow together, as well as benefit from sustainability and help reduce global warming at the same time. For example, if farmers stop burning and follow CPF’s system, they will get a higher price for selling their products. Or checking burning with technology and a traceability system to ensure that agricultural products purchased from farmers do not come from forest encroachment or environmental destruction.
“To move forward in this direction together, CPF starts with people within the company to ensure that everyone at every touchpointhas the same understanding, and then expands outside the organization, especially farmers, who are CPF’s partners.”Mr. Kobboon Srichai from CPF
Dr. Wichai Narongvanich from Kasikornbank said that it has created understanding for customers and developed financial products that are easy to access to achieve the Net Zero goal together. It has prepared 200 billion baht in capital for businesses that have clear goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including SMEs and startups that want to invest in green technology or green products.
Mr. Sunthorn Yongwiboonsiri from SCG Packaging has established a Supplier Code of Conduct to supervise and develop suppliers in the supply chain to be on the same ESG standard, along with organizing Supplier Days regularly to help add knowledge, such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and also focusing on safety.
Mr. Dan Pathomwanich from NR Instant Produce is trying to create Food innovation that answers the Net Zero question
both in his role as a supplier or downstream of partners with this goal and in his role of looking after upstream suppliers, which is the agricultural sector. He has a decarbonize project inviting farmers to reduce burning in order to reduce carbon emissions by providing knowledge and using easily accessible technology for farmers to participate in the process.
“NRF’s downstream suppliers are supermarkets, partners with Net Zero targets, while farmers are NRF’s upstream suppliers, so we must encourage farmers to participate in this goal together.”Mr. Dan Pathomwanich from NR Instant Produce
5. Elevate people, create social power
In the 5th forum, there was an exchange of experiences by representatives from UNGCNT member organizations, including:
- Dr. Netchanok Wibhatasilpa, Head of Corporate Strategy and Education, True Corporation Plc. and Director and Secretary of the Connext ED Foundation
- Mr. Meechai Viravaidya, President of the Population and Community Development Association
- Ms. Rachasurang Wongkrasamongkol, Youth Representative
The three of them shared their experiences in working to elevate people and create social power by
Dr. Netchanok Wipathasilp from True believes that the foundation of sustainability is education, and the heart is human development. Therefore, she initiated the ‘True Plookpanya Project’ by developing the largest knowledge and morality platform in the country, allowing youth to access knowledge from around the world and learn anywhere, anytime. She also extended the collaboration to tap the potential of the three sectors: the government, civil society, and the private sector, as a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to establish the Foundation for the Future of Education, Connect ED, which currently has 52 private organizations collaborating to raise the quality of Thai education to be on par with international standards and create sustainable development. Our goal is to reduce educational inequality and develop the quality of our youth to become good and capable children. Currently, we have many projects that have become domino effects that can be forwarded to the government sector to expand to schools and communities for further development to create sustainability.
“The foundation of sustainability is education, and the heart of it is human development. True initiated the True Plookpanya project and collaborated with 3 sectors to drive the Foundation for the Future of Education, Connect ED, to develop education, create a model of knowledge that is passed on to the government sector, and create a domino effect.”
Mr. Meechai Viravaidya from the Population and Community Development Association shared that the current education system is pulling people out of their communities,
so knowledge and technology must be brought into the villages as much as possible. The association has developed schools that create changemakers, starting from schools to communities, from communities to villages, instilling entrepreneurship and an empathy mindset in students by teaching them how to do business and develop social projects to request funding, including involving the business sector, which has earned it international recognition as the most innovative school.
“Thailand should utilize the existing systems of schools and teachers in the education sector by instilling in children an entrepreneurial and empathetic mindset and learning about business and sharing and giving.”Mr. Meechai Viravaidya from the Population and Community Development Association
Ms. Rachasurang Wongkrasaemongkol, a youth representative, expressed her opinion on what she would like to see changed, especially the rights of children to live in a safe environment, have clean air and water, and be promoted in terms of technology, to be aware of and use it effectively, as well as to increase the employment of women, to participate in decision-making in providing knowledge and solving children’s problems, and to create cooperation from the family and school levels to the organizational and international levels that will pay attention to children’s rights in order to create a truly happy and sustainable society.
6. See sustainability through the eyes of future generations.
In the 6th forum, there was an exchange of experiences by representatives from the new generation, namely Mr. Natthaphum Promson, Ms. Bunyaporn Saisoi, and Mr. Patcharapol Lee-Issaranukul. All 3 of them reflected that GCNT Forum 2023 showed how the youth must develop themselves? And how to prepare for the future generation to be the supervisors of AI. They also learned what each company is driving towards sustainability. And expressed their opinion that everyone emphasizes education and adapting to change, especially in terms of technology.
Those interested can watch the full video recording of the meeting: Developing People in the 5.0 Era, Creating a Sustainable Knowledge Society | GCNT Forum 2023 of each forum via the Social Media of the Global Compact Network of Thailand (UNGCNT) here:
www.globalcompact-th.com
