Managing director, general counsel and chief compliance officer, head of ESG | Azalea Investment Management
General counsel and executive director | Coca-Cola Beverages Singapore, Malaysia & Brunei
Head of legal and compliance, APAC, Middle East and Africa | KONE
Global vice president, strategy SAP sustainability engineering | SAP
Legal counsel, legal and compliance, sustainability and CSR | Mitsubishi Corporation RtM International
Regional legal counsel | ERM: Environmental Resources Management
Executive counsel, head of litigation | Kuok Singapore
Regional counsel Southeast Asia, ANZ, Japan and Korea | Agilent Technologies Singapore
Chief sustainability officer | Singapore Airlines Engineering Company
Assistant managing director, development and international and chief sustainability officer | Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
Regional lead, Southeast Asia, global sustainability policy and partnerships | Boeing Global
Assistant general counsel, regional counsel, APAC | FMC Corporation
Group general counsel, chief sustainability officer and company secretary | Jardine Cycle & Carriage
Vice president and head of sustainability | Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)
Chairman, CSR committee for sustainable development | Siam Cement Group
Deputy chief ethics and compliance officer, senior director and associate general counsel | VMware
General counsel, assistance services worldwide and chief privacy officer | International SOS
Director group legal and compliance | Far East Organization
Legal lead and board member, Bottling Investments Group | The Coca-Cola Company
Senior manager, environmental sustainability | Changi Airport
Director and head, sustainability and investment management operations | Principal Asset Management
Chief operating officer and general counsel, Asia Pacific | Aquila Capital
Head of ethics and compliance, MOAI (Asia Pacific) | Ericsson
Head of international legal supply chain and ESG CoE | Dell Technologies
Director, senior counsel and head of ESG | Maxeon Solar Technologies
Group chief sustainability and communications officer | RHB Banking Group
Group chief sustainability and communications officer | Gamuda
Group chief sustainability officer | Malaysia Aviation Group
General counsel and chief compliance officer | TLC Industries
Head of legal operations, APAC and China, senior director | GEA Group
Senior vice president, chief sustainable business development | Thai Beverages
Investment and corporate legal manager | A group of companies in renewable energy
Chief corporate and sustainability officer, general counsel | StarHub
Senior corporate counsel - environmental law, sustainability and regulatory compliance, APAC | Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Senior vice president corporate planning and chief sustainability officer | Singapore Airlines
Head of compliance, sustainability and legal | PT Sri Rejeki Isman Tbk (SRITEX)
As the GC Powerlist series grows, we look to create editions that highlight individuals who excel in areas we may not have shone a light on until this point. With impending climate change looming over all of us, and our interviews over recent years showing conclusively just how important in-house lawyers can be in driving change in their organisations, a Green GC Powerlist was an obvious new avenue to examine. As for where to target, Southeast Asia was the perfect choice given the huge and continuing investment in renewable energy, the great quality of the individuals here, and the appetite of the major corporations to commit to sustainability initiatives.
We realised early on that we had to go even further than we would usually to create a list that is truly representative. On advice from the in-house lawyers we spoke to during the opening round of interviews, we decided to expand the scope of the project further to take into account the Sustainability Officers and other businesspeople who are doing so much to advance Green initiatives in Southeast Asia. Certainly a first for our research team!
The interviews we did were illuminating. ‘As lawyers, we are well-placed to chart our organisations’ respective journeys through the ‘alphabet soup’ of ESG factors, operating from an accountability lens to accurately measure the impact of our corporate behaviours’, says Maree Myerscough, chief operating officer and general counsel of Aquila Clean Energy, a view shared by Hong Teong Goh, chief legal officer, Louis Dreyfus Company Asia: ‘Many initiatives today, especially those related to ESG, must be embedded at the very heart of corporate strategy and business function buy-ins. In-house lawyers play a key role in guiding new policies that are in the best interests of the company, working with its different departments to support solutions derived from a broad perspective of the organisation.’
Highlighting the high degree of synergy between CSOs and GCs, Susana Lim, vice president sustainability and data privacy of GIC, echoed these statements. ‘The global pace of developments in sustainability regulations has been nothing short of frenetic’, she explains. ‘In-house lawyers play an important role in keeping the company abreast of these developments, whether in relation to the company’s reporting obligations, sustainability-related regulations, or the trends in climate litigation and greenwashing claims.’
Kristian Nico Calugay Acosta, legal manager of Golden ABC in the Philippines, urged a degree of caution in terms of how to assess how sustainable – or not – a company is. ‘The nexus between sustainable innovation and environmental advocacy is usually left out (or disregarded) when discussing how green a company is’, he theorises. ‘It is not enough to internally innovate corporate policies and procedures to make a company green. Companies must also publicly advocate for ESG to raise environmental awareness among its clients, consumers or target markets.’
Many thanks to all the inspiring general counsel, in-house lawyers and sustainability officers who spoke to either myself or Francisco Castro for this milestone project, and congratulations on being selected to join this elite group who are doing so much to create a more renewable world for us all.
Joe Boswell
Global Editor – Powerlist Series
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Francisco Castro
Research Analyst
The Green GC Powerlist marks perhaps the most radical new endeavour in the GC Powerlist series up to this point, as we seek to highlight in-house lawyers who have done the most to forward sustainability and renewability initiatives. During the course of researching for the Powerlist, we realised it was imperative to go further than simply looking at in house lawyers; as such, prominent sustainability officers also appeared on the list, with many well-renowned individuals making the cut and in attendance on the evening.
As for where to target first for a Green GC Powerlist edition, Southeast Asia was the perfect choice given the huge and continuing investment in renewable energy across the region, the great quality of the individuals here, and the appetite of the major corporations to commit to sustainability initiatives.
Fort Canning Hotel was chosen for its location in the middle of the lush Fort Canning Park, and made for an excellent and fitting backdrop to the reception. Turnout was exceptional, with over 200 individuals in attendance, all waiting in anticipation for the award ceremony and speeches from the guest of honour, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment of Singapore Grace Fu, and Rajah & Tann Singapore Managing Partner Patrick Ang.
Global editor for The Legal 500’s Powerlist series, Joe Boswell, kicked off proceedings with a welcome speech and hearty congratulations to everyone who made it on to the Green GC Powerlist, whether in attendance or not. Patrick Ang to the podium to echo the congratulations and pledge Rajah & Tann’s support for sustainability initiatives across Southeast Asia.
The guest of honour, Grace Fu, then delivered the main speech of the evening and displayed her effortless charisma, stage command and wit
