Adele Yim interviewed by AB magazine (August 2025)

We are glad to share that our Head of Risk Advisory, Adele Yim, and Lai Kee Yin, Partner, Technology, Digital and Sustainability Consulting at Forvis Mazars in Singapore recently featured in AB magazine to discuss the seismic shifts in Hong Kong's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) landscape.

Sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern but a central pillar of corporate strategy. Driven by stringent regulatory changes, investor scrutiny, and supply chain pressures, businesses across Southeast Asia are rapidly integrating ESG into their core operations. This decisive shift is transforming ESG from a matter of corporate goodwill into a critical legal and financial obligation. For advisory firms, this means a fundamental retooling of services, skills, and strategies to guide clients through this new landscape.

Key Takeaways:

The Demand is Multi-Faceted: The push for robust ESG capabilities is driven not just by new regulations (like IFRS Sustainability Standards), but also by investor expectations, international supply chain demands, and a broader market move towards accountability.
Advisory is Evolving: Services have moved beyond basic compliance to become integral to strategic planning. Firms now offer sophisticated services including ESG transformation strategy, sustainability assurance, carbon footprinting, and sustainable finance.
SMEs are Entering the Fray: Previously slower to adopt, small and medium-sized enterprises are now feeling pressure from larger business partners and multinational corporations to align with recognized sustainability standards.
Talent & Technology are Key: The industry faces a talent shortage, leading firms to invest heavily in upskilling. Simultaneously, technology like carbon accounting platforms is becoming a critical enabler for efficient and accurate ESG reporting and assurance.
Integration is Critical: ESG is no longer a standalone service. Leading firms are successfully dovetailing sustainability assurance with statutory audit and embedding it into existing risk and compliance frameworks.

As Adele notes, this has fundamentally changed stakeholder expectations, “Stakeholders now demand greater accountability and transparency, pushing organisations to adopt more rigorous standards and reporting practices that align with broader ESG goals.”

Kee Yin noted, “‘Sustainability creates opportunities for companies by improving corporate resilience, enhancing economic value and contributing to a sustainable ecosystem.”

Credit: AB Magazine, August 2025 Issue