Climate change and its extreme impact threaten the world’s population, warranting an ‘all hands on the deck’ approach towards addressing this global crisis. Indonesia, a developing island country in Southeast Asia, is quite vulnerable to the harsh impacts of climate change, including rising temperatures, sea level rise, and frequently occurring extreme natural disasters. In fact, with about 60 percent of the country’s population residing in coastal areas, sea level rise imperils many Indonesian communities, with the possibility of flooding and inundation. These challenges, along with other environmental concerns, are further exacerbated by unsustainable business practices, thus impacting the country’s socioeconomic landscape and putting millions of Indonesian lives at risk.

In response to these challenges, the Center for Environmental, Social, and Governance Studies (CESGS) and Universitas Airlangga have come together to initiate the 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability. The conference is scheduled to take place from 6th to 8th August 2024, at the ASEEC Tower at Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia. The conference is co-organized by the International ESG Association (IESGA), the APRU (Association of Pacific Rim Universities) Sustainable Waste Management (SWM) Program, and the ESG Institute at Korea University.

The primary objective of the conference is to assemble global experts from diverse fields and industries to address pressing environmental issues and promote sustainable business practices. The conference will host distinguished speakers, including Professor Yong Sik Ok, co-president of IESGA, Chair and Director of the APRU SWM Program, and the only Highly Cited Researcher in specific fields of environment and ecology, engineering, biology, and biochemistry. Other speakers include Prof. William Mitch from the School of Sustainability at Stanford University; Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee, co-President of IESGA and Director of Korea University’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Research Institute; Prof. Jörg Rinklebe, former President of the International Society of Trace Element Biogeochemistry (ISTEB); and representatives from Nusantara National Capital City and other consulting firms. The different plenary sessions at the conference will cover varied topics, including international trends and prospects of ESG management, climate change and biodiversity, urban resilience, the global ESG lecture series, and critical minerals, batteries, and sustainable plastics.

With the 7th Global Conference: ESG Management & Sustainability, CESGS aims to attract over 200 participants from different countries, academic and research institutions, and corporate organizations, and provide them with a platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and the advancement of ESG standards. The conference will also feature a company awarding session for listed companies in Indonesia that have demonstrated exceptional ESG performance in 2023, based on the assessment undertaken by CESGS and the APRU SWM Program. Moreover, the conference will invite ministerial-level officials from different nations for the opening ceremony, welcome speeches, and the ESG management excellence award ceremony. Additionally, the APRU SWM Program’s Leaders of the Pacific Rim Association of Colleges, which has 2.2 million members, 280 Nobel laureates, and scholars from the Pacific Rim Universities Association, will also be participating at the conference. Furthermore, the conference will serve as a crucial precursor to the opening ceremony of Indonesia’s Nusantara National Capital City on 17th August 2024, showcasing the country’s commitment to sustainable development and environmental stewardship.

The previous two iterations of the conferences were successfully held from 26th to 29th June 2023 in Singapore and from 28th to 30th November 2023 in South Korea. Both these events attracted about 60 experts from nine leading organizing committees, along with 90 speakers and a total of 1,000 participants who attended the conference either online or offline.

About the International ESG Association (IESGA)
The International ESG Association (IESGA) is a South Korea-based global knowledge network that helps Korean companies become more sustainable in the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) space. The Association was established in 2021, with Prof. Yong Sik Ok and Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee from Korea University as founders and Presidents. The Association envisions promoting corporate sustainability by creating and disseminating cutting-edge ESG-related knowledge through the global network. Its mission is to build a global knowledge network for guiding ESG criteria, organize ESG-related academic seminars, provide consultancy services for ESG management, and develop new ESG-related educational programs. For more information, visit IESGA’s website.

About Professor Yong Sik Ok
Professor Yong Sik Ok is a KU HCR Professor. He is the Chair and Program Director of the Sustainable Waste Management Program for the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and the President of the International ESG Association and the International Society of Trace Element Biogeochemistry. He maintains a worldwide professional network by serving as the Editor-in-Chief of CleanMat (Wiley Open Access) and the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology (CREST, five-year IF:13.6) at Taylor and Francis. Moreover, Prof. Ok has hosted many conferences and forums focusing on Sustainability, UN SDGs, and ESG. The recently concluded 6th Global Conference on ESG Management & Sustainability marked another milestone in Prof. Ok’s ongoing journey toward achieving sustainability and ESG goals together with Prof. Jay Hyuk Rhee (President, KU ESG Research Institute & President, International ESG Association) at Korea University Business School. Importantly, Prof. Ok will chair the 4th Australian Circular Economy Conference, scheduled to take place in Sydney, Australia, in October 2024, together with Prof. Ali Abbas, Director, Waste Transformation Research Hub and the Associate Dean Research, Faculty of Engineering, The University of Sydney.