Driving sustainable change through communication, collaboration and commitment
Chana Poomee's Story
How Chana used technology understanding technology and understanding across multi-faceted challenges at SCG
Chana Poomee is the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of SCG. His years of experience working on technology and sustainability have well positioned him to drive sustainable change at SCG. He also chairs the Thai Cement Manufacturing Association (TCMA), guiding system change as part of a coalition of companies and governmental bodies.
About SCG
SCG, one of ASEAN’s leading conglomerates, operates business in compliance with ESG principles and sustainable development goals in the economy, society and environment underpinned by good governance. SCG is comprised of diverse businesses: SCG Cement and Green Solutions, SCG Smart Living, SCG Decor (SCGD), SCG Distribution and Retail, SCG Clean Energy, SCG Chemicals (SCGC), SCGP, and SCGJWD. SCG strives to respond to their customers’ diverse needs through collaborative partnership cultivation and innovative products, services and solutions development.
Sector: Cement-Building Materials, Chemicals and Packaging
Employees: 55,000
Geography: Headquartered in Thailand, active across South-East Asia
Website: www.scg.com
Challenges
faced
When Chana joined SCG, he used his years of experience in technology and sustainability to address the challenges he would face in achieving the company’s sustainability goals.
Chana needed to garner support from within all levels of SCG, from management to the wider team, overcoming people’s resistance to change and the sustainability challenges.
He knew he needed to fully understand where they were starting from in terms of sustainability, what drove them, and to address any concerns regarding the proposed changes and innovations.
Chana found there was a knowledge and action gap at SCG (e.g. lack of standards and policies). Not all employees had the same level of understanding of sustainability and SCG’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, or the right skills to work on achieving their sustainability targets.
Involving the global industry to solve local problems such as Thailand’s cement decarbonization roadmap was going to be instrumental. He knew these problems could not be solved by a single company and would take collaborative time and effort.
Actions
taken
Chana’s willingness to involve and understand the team – in line with SCG’s culture of ‘open and challenge’ – allowed him to bring people on board. He tasked them with putting together a compelling story and gathering data points, while engaging with the entire company. In addition, Chana focused on co-creation and technology as a means of enabling change. By taking the time for discussions with the board, he successfully secured support for the proposed framework.
He set up Public-Private-People Partnerships (4P) to accelerate the implementation of sustainable initiatives, providing a common goal and a direct feedback channel between those involved.
Chana closed the knowledge and action gap within the company by educating employees on ESGs and SCG’s targets, stressing the importance of ensuring that teams work on and towards the same goals, using the same standard to report externally.
Leveraging our shared ideas, frameworks, connections and valuable advice, helped Chana’s team to learn faster and build an industry network.
SCG joined hands with members of the Thailand Cement Manufacturer’s Association (TCMA) and collaborated with the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). Chana took the time to build connections with bodies such as the GCCA, the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA), and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). He spent a year building trust among TCMA and other stakeholders, and another year building connections at the ECRA.
Resonance
of impact
Chana’s technology and sustainability experience enabled employees to collaborate more effectively implementing wider changes and innovations, such as the production of low carbon cement. Chana also convinced other cement producers to work with him in creating a standard for low carbon cement, displaying the environmental benefits to consumers.
As a result, hybrid cement has replaced 80% of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), accounting for 11 million tons cement volume. Today SCG offers the “SCG Green Choice” ecolabel, the eco-conscious option for consumers.
By involving the global community, the TCMA is now the pioneer in constructing the net zero roadmap in the local context, ensuring Thailand was the first country to receive approval on their cement decarbonization roadmap by the GCCA.
Chana continues to spearhead sustainability projects at SCG, including building a strong ESG team, and embedding a work culture of sustainability among the workforce to create and initiate bottom-up change. SCG will be future-proofed, its systems ready to apply technology and data that will be used in 10 years to make fast progress.
What Chana found useful during his ESG journey
- Connections and learnings from WBCSD, which helped Chana’s team learn faster and build a network in the industry. Additionally, the personal approach of WBCSD in sharing ideas and frameworks helpful to other companies is much appreciated by Chana.