16/07/2025

ESG WEDNESDAY | JULY 16, 2025

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Rethinking cooling in AI era

Sarawak to host green mobility summit KUCHING: Sarawak will host the Green Mobility Innovation Summit 2025 on Sept 8 and 9, aiming to lead discourse on sustainable transportation and regional innovation. Themed Driving the Future: Talent, Innovation & Sustainability in Green Mobility , the summit will be jointly organised by the Sarawak Ministry of Education, Innovation and Talent Development, Brunei-Indonesia Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) and Sarawak Skills. “The event is set to bring together policymakers, industry leaders, educators and innovators from across the region to share expertise, foster collaboration and promote the development of sustainable transportation solutions,” the organisers said in a recent statement. This event reflects an urgent need for forward-looking strategies to develop a greener, more sustainable transport ecosystem across Southeast Asia. It serves as a key component of the BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025 initiative, which seeks to enhance regional connectivity and sustainable development through eco-friendly practices, climate resilience and smart city initiatives. In the statement, Sarawak Skills executive director Hallman Sabri said the summit’s significance lies in its potential to nurture talent for sustainable transportation, a shared regional goal under BIMP-EAGA Vision 2025. “Therefore, the summit serves as an essential platform for aligning strategies, building competencies and fostering regional cooperation in the transition toward a green economy,” he said. Featuring over 30 distinguished speakers and moderators, discussions will revolve around the subjects of talent development, innovative technologies, governance and global collaboration. The summit is also aligned with Sarawak’s Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030, which prioritises a green economy and showcases the state’s leadership in hydrogen fuel technology, electric vehicle infrastructure and smart city development. – Bernama KUALA LUMPUR: With Malaysia’s National Sustainability Reporting Framework (NSRF) now in effect as of Jan 1, 2025, requiring the largest 130 public-listed companies to begin comprehensive sustainability disclosures, Malaysian businesses are urgently building internal ESG capabilities that go beyond mere compliance. Fuller Academy is responding to this critical market need with an intensive ESG implementation masterclass designed specifically for Malaysian executives and senior managers. The “ESG for Business: Turning Principles into Action” workshop, scheduled for July 22-23, 2025 at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club, addresses a critical skills gap that has emerged as companies struggle to

and communication strategies that executives can implement immediately. “The training taught me how to kickstart ESG initiatives and set goals in my company,”said a previous participant from the manufacturing sector. “The small group activities deepened my understanding of materiality assessment and goal setting.” The Malaysia ESG Performance Management Solutions market, valued at US$2.5 billion in 2024, is projected to reach US$7.8 billion by 2033, reflecting the massive transformation underway in Malaysian business practices. With other main market companies required to comply with NSRF by 2026, and ACE Market companies by 2027, the window for building internal ESG capabilities is rapidly closing. The programme’s unique value lies Recognising the need for more sustainable infrastructure, Malaysia introduced the Guideline for the Sustainable Development of Data Centres back in Budget 2022. The framework sets clear national benchmarks for Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), and Carbon Usage Effectiveness (CUE), aligned with ISO/IEC standards. It also centre cooling systems. In a tropical climate like Malaysia’s, this issue is amplified. The country’s data centre footprint is expanding rapidly, with over 1,300MW in development. Projections suggest electricity demand from data centres could exceed 5,000MW by 2035. At the same time, Malaysia faces rising water stress, and power supply applications from data centre operators now make up more than 40% of Peninsular Malaysia’s total capacity. This is not merely an energy efficiency issue, it is a national capacity concern. Without addressing thermal limits head-on, infrastructure could become the Achilles’ heel of Malaysia’s digital ambitions. Newer liquid cooling technologies offer scalable solution Many data centres still operate with air-based cooling systems designed for a very different era. Even direct-to-chip liquid cooling – once considered advanced – is being pushed to its limits by high-density, next-gen AI deployments. Newer liquid cooling technologies, particularly hybrid systems that combine direct and immersive methods, offer a more scalable solution. These systems remove heat at the source, enabling higher rack densities while significantly reducing energy and water consumption. Deployments of such systems have achieved up to 40% reductions in cooling-related energy use and up to 90% reductions in water consumption. These gains are not just technical, they have direct environmental and operational benefits.

complements incentives under the Digital Ecosystem Acceleration (DESAC) programme, which rewards investment in green infrastructure. Designing for density, resilience and ESG With much of Malaysia’s upcoming data centre capacity still in planning or construction, there is a rare opportunity to build smarter from the ground up. Several practical considerations can support that goal: 0 Planning for high-density environments: AI and HPC workloads require more compute power per rack. Designing for higher density from the outset can help optimise space and performance. 0 Prioritising thermal stability: Advanced cooling systems ensure uptime even under extreme loads, while reducing dependency on energy- and water-intensive processes, especially important in resource-constrained regions. 0 Aligning with ESG and regulatory standards: As investors and global partners place growing emphasis on sustainability, facilities that meet national efficiency targets will be better positioned for future growth and collaboration. These aren’t just engineering upgrades, they are infrastructure decisions that will influence Malaysia’s competitiveness in the region’s digital future. Cooling has traditionally taken a backseat to compute and connectivity. But in an AI-driven economy, it’s quickly becoming a defining factor in performance, sustainability, and viability. Malaysia has made strong progress in laying the foundations of its digital economy. Ensuring that progress is supported by efficient, forward-looking infrastructure, especially in how heat is managed, will determine how far and how fast the country can go. in its practical focus on turning ESG principles into measurable business outcomes. Participants learn to develop SMART sustainability goals aligned with business priorities; assess ESG risks and opportunities using proven frameworks; build stakeholder engagement strategies that drive buy in; create transparent communication that builds trust and credibility and navigate emerging regulatory requirements and global trends. The programme qualifies for HRD Corp funding levy, making it accessible to local firms seeking to upskill their workforce in critical future-ready competencies. This government backing reflects the strategic importance of ESG capabilities in Malaysia’s economic development agenda. This article is contributed by Iceotope APAC director Jason Low ( pic ).

o Malaysia’s artificial intelligence ambitions depend on infrastructure innovation

MALAYSIA is accelerating towards AI leadership. The recent launch of Southeast Asia’s first sovereign, full stack AI infrastructure signals a strategic shift, bringing compute, data, and digital sovereignty under national control and placing the country at the forefront of regional digital transformation. But as momentum builds, so do

demands systems supporting it. One of the most pressing and often underestimated challenges; heat. Growing thermal challenge AI workloads are becoming increasingly compute-intensive. Large language models and GPU clusters generate significant heat, placing immense strain on data on the

Businesses rush to master ESG implementation as regulatory pressures mount

gaps remain, particularly in translating ESG frameworks into practical business strategies. The skills gap is particularly acute in middle management, where day to-day operational decisions determine ESG success or failure. The Fuller Academy masterclass directly addresses this challenge through eight focused modules that take participants from ESG fundamentals to advanced implementation strategies. This demand aligns with Malaysia’s ambitious target of creating 200,000 green jobs by 2030, as outlined in the government’s Green Jobs Portal initiative, backed by RM230 billion in sustainability-related development funding. Unlike theoretical seminars, the program emphasizes hands-on tools, stakeholder engagement techniques,

Banking & Finance There has been a dramatic surge in ESG awareness among Malaysian businesses recently, with awareness among SMEs increasing sixfold from 14% to 80% over the past two years. However, while general ESG adoption has grown from 28% to 60% during this period, significant implementation translate global ESG frameworks into practical business strategies. “We’re seeing a fundamental shift in how Malaysian businesses approach sustainability,“ said Bernadine Francis, MSc Sustainability Science and lead trainer for the programme. “The question is no longer ‘Do we need ESG?’ but rather ‘How do we implement it effectively without disrupting core operations?’ This workshop provides the strategic roadmap executives need.”

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