World food day 2025: Bank DBS Indonesia goes for better foods and a better future

To mark World Food Day 2025, Bank DBS Indonesia worked with multiple partners to support national food security in line with this year's theme, Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future.

Head of Group Strategic Marketing & Communications PT Bank DBS Indonesia Mona Monika said, “The theme of Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future reflects the importance of collaboration in creating fair and sustainable access to food for all. As a bank committed to ESG principles, we want to act as a catalyst in strengthening the food supply chain, improving the welfare of farmers, driving the green economy in the agricultural sector, and increasing equitable access to nutritious food. This is the tangible manifestation of our sustainability pillar, Impact Beyond Banking.”

As part of its vision to be the Best Bank for a Better World, Bank DBS Indonesia believes that a sustainable food future can only be achieved through cross-sector collaboration between the financial sector, the government, businesses, communities, and the general public. Through various green financing initiatives, support for agritech startups, and social programmes held jointly with DBS Foundation, Bank DBS Indonesia plays an active role in building a resilient, inclusive, and competitive food system:

- The FEAST (Flores Empowerment for Agricultural Sustainability and Transformation) programme, held in collaboration with Yayasan Humanis dan Inovasi Sosial, equips farmers with climate-smart agricultural practices, financial literacy, and nutritional knowledge. A total of 40 village champions have been trained to assist 1,600 smallholder farmers (half of them women) in eight districts in Flores, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT). 

They take part in 50 climate field school sessions and test climate-smart agriculture methods in demonstration farm plots. Additionally, the programme provides nutrition education for 4,000 farming families to improve their knowledge and nutritional status. The programme will be expanded to all districts in Flores within the next 2-3 years.

- Green financing in the form of blended finance for Adena Coffee to nurture coffee farmers and increase coffee bean production in a sustainable manner, as well as to develop software to support compliance with the European Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). 

In addition, Adena Coffee will establish a Multipurpose Production and Training Centre by building new wet mill and fermentation facilities to train farmers in the proper application of wet processing and fermentation methods, ensuring consistent and high-quality yields; and conduct six capacity-building sessions for 500 small-scale coffee farmers in Gayo, Flores, Bali, and West Java.

- The Food Rescue Warrior programme, held in collaboration with FoodCycle Indonesia and DBS Foundation. From January 2024 to September 2025, the programme saved 1.36 million kg of surplus food from 155 partner hotels, restaurants, and plantations. Of the total, more than 600,000 kg was edible and packaged into more than 3 million food packages for 128,000 recipients. 

The programme succeeded in reducing the food insecurity rate from 77% to 36% in 17 months, according to a FoodCycle survey of a sample of recipients. Additionally, more than 700,000 kg of food waste were processed into animal feed and compost fertiliser at the urban farm developed under this programme. Education on the circular food system was also actively provided for the community at the urban farm to raise awareness about sustainable food security.

Food waste management is also very crucial for food sustainability.

- Magalarva, a social impact company and a recipient of the DBS Foundation Grant 2023, has made a significant impact on food waste management over the past two years. Food waste processing volume increased to nearly 3,000 tonnes per year, double the amount of the previous year. This has also reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 9,000 tonnes.

Founder & CEO Magalarva Rendria Labde said, “Since partnering with DBS Foundation, we have been able to accelerate the transformation of our waste management system. We have now increased our food waste processing capacity by 66%, improved efficiency through waste sorting units and a new operational fleet, and opened up export opportunities to more countries. The impact is being felt by both the environment and the economy.”

ESG stands for environmental, social, and governance.

IFAT to open in KSA in 2026

Messe München will be holding its first-ever trade fair in KSA in 2026 with IFAT, the trade fair for environmental technologies. A memorandum of understanding was signed in late January with the National Center for Waste Management (MWAN) in KSA.

The trade fair, the 13th in the IFAT stable, will be held at the Riyadh Front Exhibition & Conference Center from January 26 to 28, 2026, and will bring together the key players in waste, water and various environmental technologies from the Middle East and North Africa region. 

"Strong and successful international business also secures the economic future of our trade fairs in Munich," explained Messe München Co-CEOs Stefan Rummel and Dr Reinhard Pfeiffer. 

"We see great potential in Saudi Arabia and are looking forward to the first IFAT in the Middle East."

The trade fair is an important part of the KSA government's Vision 2030 programme, through which it is investing more heavily in the sustainable development of the economy. This development offers great growth potential for environmental technologies and the circular economy.

Goals include 91% source segregated waste, 79% of waste prepared for recycling and 90% diversion from landfills by 2040. For the water sector, desalinating seawater, expanding water networks and building wastewater treatment plants and associated infrastructure to meet national needs are all being accomplished while ensuring the sustainable extraction and consumption of this valuable resource, and protecting the natural environment of the Kingdom.

Sungrow, Khalifa University unveil a path to a clean energy future

Sungrow, the global photovoltaic (PV) inverter and energy storage system provider, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Khalifa University of Science and Technology, a research-intensive university in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to collaborate on advancing region-specific research and innovation to tackle climate change, promote energy diversification, and support economic sustainability. The strategic partnership is expected to pave the way for groundbreaking advancements in the UAE's renewable energy sector.

Source: Sungrow. VIPs pose for a picture after signing the MoU. The MoU was signed by HE Professor Ebrahim Al Hajri, President of Khalifa University (left), and Thompson Meng, VP of Sungrow PV & Storage BG (right).

Sungrow specialises in solar inverters and battery energy storage systems (BESS), and has a local presence in the UAE.

HE Professor Ebrahim Al Hajri, President of Khalifa University, said: "The MoU with Sungrow reflects Khalifa University's dedication to aligning with the objectives of the UAE's Energy Strategy 2050, which targets an energy mix of 44% clean energy, 38% gas, and 12% clean coal. In order to achieve such targets, we aim to help offer transformative solutions from our top-of-the-range academics and researchers with their expertise. 

"We believe this MoU with Sungrow will pave the way for contributing to the UAE's energy objectives and deliver effective innovations through the synergy created from this collaboration."

Thompson Meng, VP, Sungrow PV & Storage BG, said: "Our cooperation with Khalifa University is of great significance to Sungrow. Guided by our mission Clean power for all, we are eager to contribute to the transition to clean energy and enhance power grid support in this region. We can plan a greater blueprint together by collaborating with Khalifa University!"

Under the terms of the MoU, Sungrow and Khalifa University will conduct advanced system innovation development and solution performance optimisation under GCC climate conditions. The partnership will include:

• Joint experiments and prototype development.
• Exploration of sponsorship and collaboration opportunities with additional stakeholders.
• Establishment of research and testing facilities.

Sungrow has already visited Khalifa University's Advanced Power and Energy Center (APEC) and expressed an interest in collaboration on some of the ongoing research projects.

Malaysia’s first green sukuk under the Sustainable Responsible Investment Sukuk Framework

Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has issued Malaysia’s first green sukuk – addressing global funding gaps in green financing – under its Sustainable & Responsible Investment (SRI) Sukuk framework.

Tan Sri Ranjit Ajit Singh, Chairman of SC said, “The launch of Malaysia’s first green sukuk marks another significant milestone in product innovation that strengthens Malaysia’s position as a leading Islamic finance marketplace as well as its value proposition as a centre for sustainable finance.

“We believe that there is a significant opportunity arising from strong global interest in green financing where innovative fundraising instruments like green and SRI sukuk is a viable solution to address global needs for green and other forms of sustainable and responsible financing.”

To complement SRI Sukuk framework and promote greater utilisation of green sukuk as a fundraising channel, several incentives are in place to attract green issuers including:

• Tax deduction until year of assessment (YA) 2020 on issuance costs of SRI sukuk approved or authorised by or lodged with the SC; 
• Tax incentives for green technology activities in energy, transportation, building, waste management and supporting services activities such as from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA); and 
• Financing incentives under the Green Technology Financing Scheme (GTFS) with total fund allocation of RM5 billion until 2022. 

To be eligible for tax deductions under SRI sukuk incentives, issuers utilising the SRI sukuk framework towards green projects must ensure that proceeds raised are used to fund eligible SRI projects in the natural resources, renewable energy and/or energy efficiency sectors. In accordance with international practices, issuers are also encouraged to appoint independent expert/s to undertake an assessment on the eligibility of the project prior to issuance of the green sukuk.

The framework underlying this first green sukuk is the result of collaboration between SC, Bank Negara Malaysia and the World Bank Group, in an effort to develop an ecosystem to facilitate the growth of green sukuk and to introduce innovative financial instruments to tackle global infrastructure needs and green financing.

“With the successful development of the framework for the first green sukuk, Malaysia is playing a pioneering role in harnessing capital markets, and in particular Islamic finance, for climate friendly investments,” said Faris Hadad-Zervos, World Bank Representative to Malaysia. “This is a crucial step in financing the country’s infrastructure investments and the World Bank Group is pleased to be a close partner with Malaysia in developing this innovative approach to climate finance. We congratulate Malaysia on this historic achievement.”