Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally- friendly activities?

With our vision to accelerate the energy transition through innovative renewable energy solutions for a net-zero future, Blueleaf Energy helps corporates, investors, developers and governments in Asia Pacific advance towards their net-zero climate targets. We deliver this by offering the capabilities and global network to develop, finance, build and operate renewable assets and solutions across Asia Pacific, whilst upholding the highest environmental, social, governance and safety standards.

Blueleaf Energy has a development pipeline of solar, wind and storage projects in excess of 7 GW, a historical track record of developing and building 2 GW of capacity globally, with over 500 MW in the Asia Pacific. We are creating one of the largest onshore renewable energy businesses in Asia Pacific by developing our local capabilities and scaling up renewable energy deployment through bespoke local partnerships to leverage local capabilities for regional expansion. Our primary focus markets are Taiwan, Japan, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.

As a portfolio company of Macquarie’s Green Investment Group (GIG) operating on a standalone basis, Blueleaf Energy’s access to debt capital markets gives it the edge to invest, develop, construct, and operate reliable, long-term and commercially viable renewable energy solutions.

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?

The familiarity and in-depth knowledge that in-house counsel have on the organisation’s business, structure and culture through daily cross-functional collaborations provide them with unique insights of the organisation’s operations. This makes them well-placed to identify areas for synergistic change to be implemented within the organisation.

It can be difficult to truly measure a company’s track record and accomplishments in terms of their environmentally friendly behaviour. What do you think has, until now, been mostly missed when discussing how green a company is?

In my opinion, companies often fail to consider the adverse impact their business operations can have on the communities they operate in. Such impact can arise from issues including air and water pollution, water usage, waste disposal, strain on natural resources from drawing on the raw materials utilized in components forming part of the supply chain.

To avoid this common environmental blind spot, prior to embarking on a project, Blueleaf Energy conducts a detailed review of its operations, particularly the interaction of their projects with the environment of the project site and potential social risks, to ensure that our works do not result in environmental injustice.