KUALA LUMPUR (June 22): E-hailing services company Grab has unveiled its first annual environment, social and governance (ESG) report, which outlines the company’s progress to support socio-economic empowerment and sustainable growth.
It also announced new initiatives that are expected to reinforce its commitment to reducing carbon emissions and its environmental footprint.
In a statement today, it said its clients will soon be able to reduce their carbon footprint when travelling with Grab through an innovative carbon offset feature integrated within the Grab application.
The feature will be launched in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand next month before being rolled out to the rest of the region.
According to Grab, the feature enables consumers to purchase carbon offsets at less than US$0.10 (about 42 sen) per ride.
The amount will go towards reforestation and conservation projects managed by local non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Grab and Hyundai Motor Group will also launch electric vehicle (EV) pilot programmes to make EV ownership more affordable and accessible, while jointly developing a road map to accelerate EV adoption in Southeast Asia, it said.
In a survey with Grab users across six Southeast Asian countries, the company highlighted that 82% of respondents were concerned about climate change and taking some actions to reduce their carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, 44% said they did not know how to reduce their carbon footprint, and 31% felt it was too difficult to take action.
Group chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Anthony Tan said the health of the company is intrinsically linked to the welfare of the communities and the protection of the environment.
“In order for our business to grow and succeed in the long run, we must work towards building thriving communities where our partners have sustainable income opportunities while protecting our environment for generations to come.
“Our first ESG report reflects our commitment to building a business with a double bottom line while ensuring transparency and accountability to our stakeholders,” he commented.
On accelerating EV adoption in Southeast Asia, Grab shared that in recent years, governments across the region had announced policies to increase the adoption of EVs as part of their emission reduction goals, but many hurdles still remain.
A survey among Grab driver-partners in Singapore found that high vehicle costs, a lack of charging locations and long wait times for charging are the top barriers hindering Grab driver-partners from adopting EVs, it said.
“The shift to EVs will require an ecosystem of partners, including governments, charging infrastructure providers and automakers.
“Grab is actively working to achieve all of these to grow the EV ecosystem together through pilot initiatives and step changes,” it noted.
