Joint Committee on Climate Change (JC3) aims to align CCPT practices by year-end

1. In a joint statement today, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said supporting the credible, consistent and reliable implementation of the Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy (CCPT) continues to be one of the key priorities of Committee on Climate Change (JC3), which is a platform established to pursue collaborative actions for building climate resilience within the Malaysian financial sector.

2. The JC3 aims to substantially complete further work to align practices in the implementation of the Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy CCPT by the end of 2023.

Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP)

1. Corporate Green Power Programme (CGPP) is an initiative by the Government to provide opportunity for business entities to participate in the promotion and use of renewable energy in their business operation. The programme supports the growing number of electricity consumers that aspire to achieve the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) target.

2. CGPP is essentially a mechanism of virtual power purchase agreement, which is implemented using the existing New Enhanced Dispatch Arrangement (NEDA) framework.

Product Spotlight - xMEMS Labs Aims to Replace Earbud and Hearing Aid Audio Drivers with Semiconductor Speakers

1. The semiconductor story is the story of constant replacement. Early transistors increasingly replaced vacuum tubes. Integrated circuits (ICs) replaced transistors. Our large-screen, flat-panel displays and televisions, which replaced cathode ray tubes, are giant-sized, thin-film semiconductors. 

2. Semiconductor-based solid-state drives are currently replacing rotating hard-disk storage in computers and servers. Even dynamic and electret microphones have started to yield to tiny arrays of semiconductor MEMS (Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems) transducers. You’ll find at least one such MEMS microphone in many new mobile phone models.

3. However, one electronic technology has long resisted replacement by semiconductors: the loudspeaker. Today’s audio speaker or earbud driver continues to use century-old, moving-coil or balanced armature technology. 

4. A company named xMEMS Labs is determined to change that situation by introducing two second-generation semiconductor MEMS speakers and a device called the Skyline DynamicVent, which is simply an electrically actuated air valve used to equalize differential pressure between the ear canal and ambient air.

Product Spotlight - Taiwan to ban disposable food utensils made of biodegradable plastic

 1. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Friday (Feb. 3) that it plans to ban disposable food utensils made of biodegradable plastic.

2. The EPA plans to implement the policy starting Aug. 1, with the goal of lessening the impact of biodegradable plastics on Taiwan’s existing recycling mechanisms. Additionally, it is an attempt to reduce the amount of disposable food containers and cutlery.

3. The policy will affect the public sector, public and private schools, department stores and malls, wholesale stores, supermarkets, convenience store chains, fast food chains, and physical food service providers.

4. According to the EPA, after it banned plastic disposable food containers and cutlery, many food service providers turned to biodegradable options. However, as the material only decomposes quickly in specific environments and Taiwan lacks proper reuse means as well as compost facilities, it has expanded its definition to include biodegradable plastics into its list of banned materials.