To promote sustainable energy practices, Pantas Software Sdn Bhd, a carbon management and ESG solutions provider, has brought on Solarvest Holdings Bhd as a decarbonisation partner.
Described as a solar energy expert, Solarvest offers a range of clean energy solutions and is currently venturing into other clean energy solutions including hydrogen, battery storage, data center, energy efficiency, low-carbon mobility, and renewable energy certificates.
Leveraging that expertise, the two companies recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate Solarvest’s clean energy solutions into Pantas’ AI-powered carbon management and ESG platform.
This platform aims to measure, reduce, and report customers’ carbon footprint, and subsequently offer tailored decarbonisation solutions.
Pantas’ solutions mainly target listed companies who have ESG reporting requirements. Here, a big challenge lies in measuring and reporting on companies’ supply chain emissions.
Oftentimes, these supply chains involve many different players who may not track their own emissions or necessarily have ESG-compliant practices. That’s where Pantas and its decarbonisation partners such as Solarvest comes in.
Together, they aim to co-develop a key smart metrics system for decarbonisation recommendations.
Elaborating on this, Pantas’ CEO and co-founder, Max Lee, said that the smart metrics system uses insights from partners like Solarvest while leveraging AI to analyse data from clients. It generates tailored decarbonisation strategies, including renewable energy, waste, and fleet management solutions.
He added, “The system estimates costs, ROI, and payback periods for solar solutions based on current market prices for solar panels and electricity tariffs. This enables our clients to make financially savvy decisions about solar energy adoption.”
Helping Malaysia go green
The new collaboration, which was sealed on February 15, 2024, will be executed under the Bank Negara Malaysia’s Greening Value Chain (GVC) programme.
Under this programme, Pantas and relevant climate solution partners incentivise and assist Malaysian SMEs to begin their journey in sustainability reporting while helping them implement changes to greenify their operations.
As a decarbonisation partner, Solarvest will now also play a part in incentivising and assisting these local businesses to take the first steps towards sustainable operations.
With that, Pantas can offer an end-to-end decarbonisation journey that streamlines and accelerates the adoption of renewable energy for SMEs, which in turn provides the listed companies whom they work with the necessary data to do their ESG reporting.
In short, Pantas acts as a platform that helps every part of the supply chain. Through them, anchors (who are the listed companies that pay Pantas for its ESG tracking solutions) can better manage their supply chain emissions.
Meanwhile, their suppliers, who may be SMEs or other sorts of companies, can access free carbon management solutions and education. These suppliers will then also benefit from low-cost financing.
Specifically, suppliers can access up to RM10 million in financing through BNM’s Low Carbon Transition Facility (LCTF), at a maximum financing rate of 5% per annum, to implement green changes.
Pivoting towards sustainability solutions
Some of you might remember that Pantas used to be in a different field before June 2022. The company was focused on e-invoicing and financing for SMEs before pivoting to become a carbon management and ESG platform.
Confiding in us, CEO Max Lee shared that their initial focus didn’t achieve the expected market penetration.
At the same time, they identified a significant yet unmet demand in Southeast Asia for automated solutions in carbon management and ESG reporting.
“Our market analysis revealed a strong appetite among businesses for such services, evidenced by their willingness to quickly commit to contracts of a year or longer,” he said.
In Malaysia, they found that companies faced significant challenges with ESG reporting, especially in managing and reporting carbon emissions accurately.
Thus, Pantas has come in to help these companies streamline their reporting process, making it easier and less resource-intensive to manage.
Further developing the local ESG landscape
Max shared that Malaysia’s ESG framework is gradually developing, with the current emphasis on integrating ESG principles into various sectors.
Although still in its early stages, there’s noticeable momentum driven by regulatory initiatives and growing market interest.
To further enhance ESG adoption, he recommended three areas that we need to focus on:
- Increasing education and awareness on the importance of ESG
- Introducing financial incentives like tax reductions for ESG-compliant companies
- Adopting standardised ESG reporting guidelines that’s similar to Bursa Malaysia’s Sustainability Reporting Guide for listed companies
That said, since pivoting in June 2022, Max reported that Pantas has received a growing interest and inquiries from clients. This reflects a positive trend towards ESG integration in Malaysia.
So far, their clientele includes notable organisations like AmBank Group, S P Setia, Pos Malaysia, and Kasikorn Bank which is one of Thailand’s largest banks.
“For continued progress, it’s crucial for all stakeholders, including the government, businesses, and NGOs, to collaborate in promoting ESG practices. Such efforts can accelerate Malaysia’s journey towards sustainability and align it closer to global ESG standards,” he concluded.
Editor’s Update: Parts of this article have been edited to reflect greater accuracy after receiving clarifications about Pantas’ climate solutions.
- Learn more about Pantas Software Sdn Bhd here.
- Learn more about Solarvest Holdings Bhd here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: Pantas Software Sdn Bhd
