ENVIRONMENTAL

Unitrade recognises the potential and actual impacts that climate change has on the Group operations and its stakeholders. As Unitrade’s main operations is as a warehouse distribution centre, it therefore does not have a significant direct adverse impact on the environment.

The Group, however, remains vigilant in monitoring its business operations emissions as well as energy and resource consumption, which may directly or indirectly contribute to climate change.

This commitment is in line with many industry players and governments, such as Malaysia, who have committed to monitoring and/or curbing their carbon emissions in order to better address climate change.

The Board would have oversight on the organisation’s climate change matters, with the top-level decision-making process on initiatives related to this topic being spearheaded by them. Climate change is also one of the key materials topics assessed in our recent MAE and was included as part of our materiality matrix.

The Group acknowledges the risks of climate change that could impact the Group’s logistical value chains and delivery timelines, such as extreme and unpredictable thunderstorms, tidal waves, floods and more. The Group is also aware that its diesel and electricity consumption in its operations does contribute to the larger climate change scenario.

However, the Group also sees climate change as presenting opportunities for Unitrade to potentially modify its business model, practices or strategies to become more sustainable and ESG compliant in the long term.

For instance, earlier in 2012, Ricwil received a grant from the United Nations Development Programme to purchase 2 new polyurethane machines as part of a Department of Environment (“DOE”) initiative to phase out HCFC gasses at the organisation. Unitrade is also in the midst of installing solar panels at certain areas of our operations, with installation works expected to be completed by September 2022.

As Unitrade is still in its nascent stages of addressing climate change in a significant manner, the Group may plan to get several climate-change-related initiatives off the ground in the future. This may include emission reduction, improve waste management, more savings on energy consumption, and more. Going forward, Unitrade will consistently maintain its pursuit of better addressing and reducing its reduce climate change impacts and emissions.

As the Group begins its pursuit to combat climate change in its own capacity, it has taken to monitoring its operations’ CO₂ emissions and emissions intensity, where feasible. The Group’s current emissions are within the limits set by the DOE.

Unitrade’s carbon emissions primarily come from energy consumption originating from diesel consumption (Scope 1) and electricity consumption (Scope 2). Our emissions data is shown below:

Unitrade remains attentive to its energy consumption, more so given its determination to mitigate its impact on the overall environment and climate. Energy consumption at Unitrade is primarily derived from diesel consumption and electricity consumption.

Unitrade's management of fuel used in its organisation is an important part of upholding the Group’s ESG commitment, given that one of our core businesses is logistics and deliveries which heavily involves transportation using vehicles. The main fuel source consumed by Unitrade is diesel.

Unitrade is always vigilant in ensuring it efficiently utilises its diesel fuel so it is not overused or wasted. In the future, we plan to enact more fuel-saving initiatives to better manage our fuel savings, reduce fuel consumption and decrease our overall carbon footprint.

In FY2022, Unitrade and its subsidiaries consumed a total of 49,620 litres of diesel fuel, as shown below:

Given the importance of electricity supply in powering multiple warehouses to store products overnight, as well as our office and factory environments where our employees work, Unitrade is cognisant of the efficient management of its purchased electricity. Our main source of electricity is from the grid.

Unitrade already encourages simple electricity-saving initiatives in the workplace, such as switching off lights, air conditioners and electrical appliances at the Group’s work environments. In the future,

Unitrade plans to expand its scope of electricity-saving initiatives and alternatives at its work environments to contribute towards the reduction of our carbon emissions and positive energy savings. In FY2022, Unitrade and its subsidiaries consumed a total of 616,552 kWh of electricity, as shown below:

In total, our overall energy consumption in FY2022 amounted to 4,105.15 GJ, as shown below:

*FY2022 electricity consumption data for Ricwil ranges 9 months, excluding the months of January 2022, February 2022 and March 2022.

Unitrade ensures that it closely monitors its water consumption in pursuit of stronger ESG compliance. The Group acknowledges that water is utilised on multiple levels of the Group’s business, and therefore manages its water consumption based on industry best practices.

The Group also encourages water-saving initiatives among its employees, including the act of turning off water appliances such as taps, after use. Going forward, the Group plans to enact more water saving initiatives that would better conserve Unitrade’s overall water usage, given that water is a finite resource that needs to be managed appropriately.

FY2022, Unitrade and its subsidiaries consumed a total of 5,765 m3 of water, as shown below:

Unitrade's strong ESG commitment towards safeguarding the environment also involves a solid waste management system which ensures the Group propagates a responsible and strategic waste production, management and disposal.

Given the large range of materials that Unitrade deals with in its manufacturing processes, the Group ensures it tracks the variety of total waste generated across its operations.

Going forward, Unitrade plans to enact a dedicated waste management plan. It also plans to expand its recycling initiative to become a prominent facet of the organisations waste management efforts in order to reduce the amount of waste disposed. In the future, Unitrade also plans to collaborate with third-party business partners to better tackle the reduction of pollution and waste, where possible.

Unitrade consistently monitors its environmental performance across its work environments to ensure it complies with the standards stipulated by the DOE. This may include environmental pollution monitoring which is carried out when it is deemed necessary.

We also screen our suppliers and vendors to ensure they also comply with environmental standards of the Group and other regulatory laws.

As of FY2022, zero environmental non-compliance incidents have been reported.

While Unitrade’s operations do not directly impact its surrounding biodiversity, it still remains dedicated towards preserving and conserving the biodiversity of flora and fauna.

The Group encourages the values and importance of preserving and conserving biodiversity by verbally communicating these principles to its employees. Unitrade has in place general environmental-friendly protocols that aims to reduce any negative impacts the Group may or may not have on its surrounding environment.

To the best of the Group’s knowledge, no operation of Unitrade is located in areas deemed biodiverse. Zero major environmental leakages or spills from Unitrade were reported in FY2022.

In the future, Unitrade plans to establish biodiversity audits to be conducted at its work environments to ensure its operations are not harming the surrounding biodiversity. We will persist with monitoring our operating environments to ensure its biodiversity is not harmfully affected, especially with regards to the continued prevention of potential environmental leakages or spills.