BIBD Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards: A Catalyst for Change
- Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Youth
Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) continues to demonstrate its commitment to nation building and promoting a sustainable future for Brunei by recognising and empowering young talents through its BIBD Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards (Anugerah Kepimpinan Belia Mampan BIBD).
The bank today awarded four promising youth groups, Brumi Lestari, Green Space, Purrfectly Green, and Green Pearls, who have presented innovative solutions to address critical
environmental issues, such as food waste management and promoting sustainable living.
The awards under the umbrella of SDG 12, are broken up into four categories.
Under the ‘Responsible Production’ category winner, Brumi Lestari aims to provide a comprehensive food waste reporting service focusing on pre-consumer production.
The service includes data collection using a smart scale and app through IoT (Internet of Things), and analysis of waste-causing practices through observation. This will provide reporting to the businesses and help identify areas where they can reduce supply waste.
In the ‘Sustainable Lifestyle’ category, Green Space has won the award, aiming to help people understand and apply the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on responsible consumption and sustainable living.
They aim to use social media platforms to educate people about best practices and habits that can support sustainable living.
Winner of the ‘Waste Management’ category, Purrfectly Green, aims to transform food waste into pet food, adopting health and halal standards that would fit a certain segment who are
conscious of the source of food for their pets.
Lastly, Green Pearls, which has won the award under the ‘Food Waste’ category, aims to improve management of food waste in Brunei. With pilot projects addressing community areas
such as resettlement villages, they aim to reach out to community leaders and bring the awareness of waste segregation that can be processed to become compost for farming.
The teams, each awarded with $3,000, will be working with their respective strategic partners from both the government and private sectors for the next 9 months to develop their ideas and empower them to expand the ideas into proof of concepts and further supported for potential commercialisation.
Launched last year, the BIBD Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards recognizes and celebrates the outstanding contributions of Brunei’s youth towards creating a sustainable future.
The Awards serve as a catalyst for innovation and empowers the next generation to address environmental, social, and economic challenges.
The BIBD’s Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards aligns seamlessly with the BIBD Sustainability Framework by prioritizing environmental protection and social impact, two core pillars of the framework.
This initiative also contributes to responsible entrepreneurship by nurturing young business leaders and fostering innovation.
Moreover, by empowering youth and addressing pressing environmental challenges, the awards directly support the UN Sustainable Development Goals, particularly those related to
responsible consumption and production that has direct impact to other goals like climate action, sustainable cities and communities, and reduced inequalities.
In the broader context, this initiative is a tangible step towards realising Brunei Vision 2035 by cultivating a skilled and entrepreneurial youth population that is actively involved in building a sustainable nation, answering His Majesty’s call during the 19th National Youth Day celebrations yesterday at ICC, where BIBD had the honor of showcasing the winners of the 2nd BIBD Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards initiative to His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa‘adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.
This prestigious platform allowed BIBD to highlight the potential of Brunei’s youth and the positive impact they can create.
“Today’s announcement of the Sustainability Youth Leadership Award winners marks a significant milestone in our collaboration with the Brunei Darussalam National Council on
Climate Change (BNCCC). This initiative is a direct response to our shared commitment, as outlined in our Memorandum of Understanding, to foster innovative solutions for a sustainable future,” said BIBD’s Chief Marketing Officer, Hajah Nurul Akmar Haji Md Jaafar who is also Lead of the BIBD Sustainability Transformation Group.
“By empowering young minds and providing them with the resources to address environmental challenges, we are not only investing in our nation’s youth but also taking concrete steps
towards Brunei’s low-carbon aspirations. We believe that these young leaders will be instrumental in driving the positive change necessary to achieve our shared vision of a
sustainable and resilient nation,” she added.
The ‘BIBD Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards’ is a collaborative effort involving the SDG Unit of Wawasan Office under the Prime Minister’s Office, the Youth Department of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Green Brunei, and the Brunei Youth Council.
This strong public-private partnership underscores BIBD’s commitment as Partner in Progress to working closely with government agencies and other stakeholders to create a supportive ecosystem for youth development and sustainability adaptation and adoption.
Through initiatives like the Sustainability Youth Leadership Awards, BIBD is proud to play a pivotal role in inspiring and empowering Brunei’s youth to become agents of change and
contribute to a greener, more sustainable nation.
