PETALING JAYA: The awareness in adopting sustainability agenda among small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is still at the minimum level, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said that when talking about the adoption of the sustainability agenda, there is still a lot more to be done by the industry to help spread awareness especially among the SMEs in rural areas.

"There are around 1.2 million SMEs in Malaysia today and most of them may still not be aware of the sustainability agenda adopted by the country because to them, this agenda means more cost," he told the media at Minconsult Sdn Bhd's 60th anniversary and Sustainability Drive pledge event today.

According to Mustapa, there is also a need to enhance public awareness on the sustainability agenda especially to school children and rural societies about the government's commitment towards the United Nation (UN) Climate Change Conference 2021 (COP26).

"It is important to spread the culture of sustainability and we need everyone to understand the importance of preserving the environment.

"Therefore I welcome Minconsult's effort in pledging on Sustainability Drive and it will provide inspiration to more companies to come forward and make similar declarations," he said.

Meanwhile, Minconsult chief executive officer Datuk Dr Dennis Ganendra said the company is the first ASEAN company in the construction and engineering sector to make pledges to the sustainability agenda.

"In conjunction with our Sustainability Drive pledge and 60th anniversary, we declare our commitment to climate change by setting the targets aligned with 1.5 degree Celsius and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050," he said.

-- BERNAMA