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2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Analysis Released: Northeast Asian Enterprises take Top 3

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Asia-Pacific Disclosure Performance Lowers Compared to Previous Year

SDGs Midterm Roundup, Enterprises May Face SDG Washing Crisis

[Five Key Findings]*please refer to complete report for detailed research findings

[Overall Performance] Northeast Asian enterprises take Top 3 of the Top 10 Regional Sustainability Results. Asia-Pacific ESG standards reach over 550, but overall disclosure performance average decreases by 6.9%[Value Chain, Net-Zer] Value chain decarbonization era is here. 56.2% of Asia-Pacific enterprises have not included Scope 3 in their net-zero targets[Biodiversity] T-x-FD multiverse. 12.5% of enterprise management expands vision to “natural capital” and sets biodiversity targets[Social Rights] “DEI+J” shifts sustainability perspective from Environment to Social, up to 92.7% of enterprises publicly explains their “social justice and human rights”[Greenwashing Issues] SDGs washing becoming a trend. Singapore highest level of management activeness while China and Hong Kong have high responses but less capable to take action

TAIPEI, June 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — CSRone Intelligence Platform (CSRone), leading sustainability brand in Taiwan, officially publishes the 2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Current Status and Trend on 10 Countries. The report studied 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions and the Top 10 enterprises based on market value shared by Forbes. The overall performance ranking placed Taiwan as first place again, with South Korea and Japan taking second and third place, respectively. However, the overall performance average for Asia-Pacific enterprise sustainability disclosure dropped compared to the previous year. The research further discovered that there is a gap between corporate promises and their actual outcomes, causing the “sustainability promise bubble” to become more apparent.

The Asia-Pacific spans across the Pacific region including parts of Asia, America, and Oceania. Accounting for 60% of the world’s population and over 50% of global economic trade, Asia-Pacific plays a significant role in the transformation of the world’s economic growth and sustainability development. The 2024 Asia-Pacific Sustainability Report Current Status and Trend on 10 Countries published by CSRone is based on the disclosure transparency and management activeness gap, relative laws, and enterprise and industry relationship analyzation on the gathered sustainability performance, net-zero strategy, regulation standard, and industry data.

Overall Asia-Pacific enterprise sustainability disclosure performance drops, 56.2% have not included Scope 3 in their net-zero target

Based on cross-research on the ESG regulation development and enterprise disclosure activeness relationship, Europe announced a total of 776 policies from 1990 until 2020, becoming the most active policy announcement region. Asia-Pacific follows closely by announcing 556 ESG-related policies, but the overall Asia-Pacific disclosure performance did not rise according to the disclosure performance policies. This year’s study shows that the best performance countries/regions are Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, demonstrating a comprehensive ESG issue management and communication. A closure analyzation discovers that the Top 10 Asia-Pacific rating lowered by 6.9% which is due to enterprises’ detailed description on ESG behavior and performance but disclosure on target and validation being conservative or nonexistent. Enterprises’ decarbonization value chain action is closely linked to their accomplishment of their net-zero target; the greenhouse gas emissions management of Scope 1 to Scope 3 of is top priority. 70.8% of the enterprises have already set net-zero goals, but up to 56.2% have not included Scope 3 in their goal setting and disclosure range. Enterprises must management their up- and down-value chain quickly in order to reach their net-zero goals.

Sustainability vision expands continuously, attention on natural capital and social rights increases
Throughout the sustainability framework integration progress, TCFD have expanded to TNFD. The environmental aspect have shifted from the highly attentive climate change and carbon issues towards biodiversity and ecosystem operation including soil and water resource utilization. Up to 95.8% of Asia-Pacific enterprises have mentioned ecosystem balance and biodiversity, with 12.5% setting goals regarding this topic. However, only 2.1% of the enterprises have a validation mechanism, meaning that enterprises need a more comprehensive evaluation regarding core operations and natural capital management.

In addition, the Social aspect of ESG have always had a slower progress compared to the Environment aspect. According to research, 97.9% of the enterprises stress DEI as one of their corporate sustainability development issues by mentioning the value of talent diversity during recruitment and retainment. In recent years, international conflicts continue to occur due to gender and racial confrontations. As a result, countries/regions and enterprises are including Justice in their DEI management. Up to 92.7% of the enterprises have publicly shared their “Social Justice and Human Rights” issue. Although there is high attention for natural capital and social rights, the implementation of these management goals and validation mechanism have greatly lowered.

Most enterprises only disclose SDGs but rarely accomplish goals
Over half of the time has passed since the SDGs’ introduction in 2015 until now; now is the time to start assessing progress and outcomes. Taiwan, Singapore, and Japan are leading when it comes to pushing the SDGs goals, with Singapore positioned as first place for overall SDGs operation integration. What’s worth noticing is that up to 89.6% of the countries/regions “mention” SDGs but only 32.3% set goals and carry out their promises and only 5.2% establish a validation mechanism. Research shows that China and Hong Kong enterprises remain in the stage where they discuss the connection between SDGs and their corporate development direction but do not have specific SDGs programs for improvement.

The ten Asia-Pacific countries play a significant role in economic, trade, and sustainability transition. The main point is to close the gap between national policies and enterprises’ progress. If there are not any concrete commitments or implementation, SDGs goals are merely words. Enterprises must contemplate more on the materiality between SDGs and their operations to prevent SDG washing and its negative impact and operational shock.

[News Material]

News Material Download: https://reurl.cc/LWQd8yFull Report Download: https://csrone.com/reports/6806

[About the Beyond Sustainability! Trends of Sustainability in Asia-Pacific]

CSRone Intelligence Platform has conducted an annual survey and analysis of sustainability information disclosure in Taiwan since 2013, with results regularly published in March. Starting in 2018, the database for the report expanded its collection to include the sustainability reports of the top 10 companies from 10 countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific, including China, Japan, India, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia.

The research led by senior consultants Richard Chen, Alice Chang, and Tracy Ni with a research team, sets out six major research hypotheses and uses 185 indicators, sets out six major research hypotheses and uses 185 analysis indicators. It deeply deconstructs the differences between “disclosure transparency” and “management proactiveness” while examining the relationships among national regulations and between companies/industries. The report analyzes information on sustainability performance, net-zero strategies, SDGs, DEI, legal regulations, and industry trends. This report enables stakeholders to understand how companies in the Asia-Pacific region practice sustainable development, making it one of the best guides for understanding sustainability trends in this region.

[Research Sample and Period]

Sample Collection: A total of 96 sustainability reports from 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions were collected.Research Subjects: The 10 Asia-Pacific countries/regions include Taiwan, Japan, China, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, South Korea. The Top 10 enterprises selected are based on the disclosed sustainability report/data based on the Forbes global 2,000 enterprises.Research Period: Publicly published 2023 sustainability reports, with disclosure period being 2022/1/1 until 2022/12/31; parts of disclosed information of the sustainability report may differ due to enterprise disclosure difference.

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SOURCE CSRone

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3M announces collaboration with GSEO to advance Expanded Beam Optical manufacturing and development

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ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — 3M (NYSE: MMM) today announced a collaboration with Genius Electronic Optical Co., Ltd. (GSEO, Taiwan: 3406), an optical technology company, to advance technology development and manufacturing for 3M’s Expanded Beam Optical (EBO) solutions. In support of these efforts, 3M expects to make a strategic investment to acquire approximately 4.7% of GSEO’s common shares as part of the company’s private placement of newly issued shares, subject to customary closing conditions.

The collaboration brings together 3M’s EBO technology leadership, optical interconnect expertise, materials science, manufacturing scale and customer relationships with GSEO’s precision optics manufacturing capabilities and production scale. Together, the companies aim to support EBO commercialization and long-term capacity expansion to meet growing demand from hyperscale data centers and other advanced connectivity applications.

“3M is investing in capabilities and partnerships that can accelerate innovation for our customers,” said William Brown, 3M Chairman and CEO. “By selecting GSEO as a manufacturing partner and investing in the company, we are strengthening the path to scale next-generation optical connectivity solutions for high-performance data center infrastructure.”

GSEO’s existing precision optics manufacturing capabilities and technical development experience are expected to support manufacturing readiness for 3M’s EBO ferrules, co-packaged optics solutions and related optical interconnect applications. The collaboration is part of 3M’s broader EBO ecosystem strategy, which includes continued work with customers and partners across the optical interconnect market.

“GSEO is pleased to expand its relationship with 3M as we work together to advance optical interconnect solutions for next-generation data center infrastructure,” said Micro Kuo, GSEO CEO and President. “This collaboration brings together complementary technology and manufacturing strengths to support continued innovation and help meet the performance demands of high-growth connectivity markets.”

3M expects the strategic investment to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this release are considered “forward-looking statements” under the federal securities laws, including the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and are intended to enjoy the protection of those laws. Forward-looking statements may appear throughout this release and are typically identified by the words “aim,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “evaluate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “guidance,” “impact,” “initial,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “probable,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “target,” “will,” “would,” and other words that are similar to, or have the opposite meanings of, those words. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, 3M assumes no duty to update those statements, and readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of those statements. Forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions and expectations of future events and trends that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those described in Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors” of 3M’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2025.

About 3M
3M (NYSE: MMM) is focused on transforming industries around the world by applying science and creating innovative, customer-focused solutions. Our multi-disciplinary team is working to solve tough customer problems by leveraging diverse technology platforms, differentiated capabilities, global footprint, and operational excellence. Discover how 3M is shaping the future at 3M.com/news.

Contacts
3M
Investor Contact:
Diane Farrow, 612-202-2449
Media Contact:
3MNews@mmm.com 

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Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers Announces Second Annual Operation Fur-Ever Home Pet Adoption Event at Lafreniere Park

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NEW ORLEANS, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is excited to announce the return of its second annual Operation Fur-Ever Home, a free community pet adoption event taking place on Saturday, November 14, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, Louisiana.

The free, family-friendly event will give attendees the opportunity to meet adoptable pets from local animal shelters, learn about responsible pet ownership, and potentially welcome a new furry companion into their homes. Those who preregister for the event will also be entered for a chance to win a Soundcore speaker and a free pet adoption.

“Last year’s event was everything we hoped it would be, and we are incredibly excited to bring Operation Fur-Ever Home back for a second year,” said David Vicknair, founding partner of Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers. “There is something special about watching a family meet a pet that could become part of their lives for years to come. We wanted to create another opportunity to make those connections while supporting the organizations that work tirelessly to care for animals in our community.”

Building on the success of the first event, this year’s event continues the firm’s commitment to supporting local animal shelters and creating meaningful opportunities for families throughout Southeast Louisiana.

“Giving back to our community has always been an important part of who we are as a firm,” said Vicknair. “Whether we are helping students prepare for school, recognizing deserving teachers, or supporting local animal shelters, our goal is to make a positive difference in the communities we serve.”

Operation Fur-Ever Home is free and open to the public. Families, animal lovers, and anyone interested in adopting a pet are encouraged to attend and preregister.

About Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers

Scott Vicknair Personal Injury Lawyers is a New Orleans-based personal injury firm committed to providing exceptional legal representation while also investing in the communities it serves. Their experienced team of dedicated attorneys specializes in car accidents, personal injury, and wrongful death cases in New Orleans. With diverse personal and professional backgrounds, they craft legal strategies tailored to each client’s specific case and needs.

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Can we produce low-cost omega-3s without relying on fish?

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GOLD COAST, Australia, Oct. 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Southern Cross University researchers are aiming to halve the cost of producing omega-3 supplements to make these essential nutrients more accessible to pregnant women and infants in low-income countries, backed by the University’s first-ever grant from The Gates Foundation.

The research takes a novel approach: rather than relying on fish oil, the team is going closer to the original source of omega-3. Fish don’t produce omega-3 themselves – they accumulate it from marine microorganisms lower in the food chain.

Led by Professor Dirk Erler from Southern Cross University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, the team is investigating how these naturally omega-3-producing microorganisms can be grown more cheaply through precision fermentation, including the use of agricultural and food-processing by-products as a source of fermentation sugar.

Omega-3 is an important nutrient during pregnancy and early life, supporting brain and nervous system development in babies. But the cost of supplements remains a significant barrier to access in many low-income countries.

“The main barrier for the uptake of omega-3s as supplements in pregnant women is the cost,” Professor Erler said.

“The whole objective of our project is to reduce that cost and make omega-3 supplements more available.”

The research team at Southern Cross University, which includes biomedical scientist Dr Nedeljka Rosic, Dr Shane McIntosh, postdoctoral researcher Dr Jasmine Haskell and PhD researcher Michael Ingram, is focused on growing omega-3-producing marine microorganisms known as thraustochytrids – or ‘throstys’ for short.

“By growing those microorganisms on land through precision fermentation, we have an alternative way of producing omega-3s that is both reliable and highly targeted,” Professor Erler said.

Precision fermentation allows the researchers to grow thraustochytrids under controlled conditions to produce omega-3 oils. The team is investigating whether expensive feedstocks used in the process can be replaced with lower-cost agricultural and food-processing by-products, helping drive down the overall cost of production.

The approach could also reduce reliance on wild-caught fish as a source of omega-3 oil and create a more reliable, scalable, and local supply.

For biomedical scientist Dr Nedeljka Rosic, the production challenge is ultimately about what greater access to omega-3 could mean for women and babies.

“As a biomedical scientist, my purpose is to find ways to use science to improve people’s health,” Dr Rosic said.

“This project is important because it aims to improve the health of pregnant women and children and reduce preterm births through simple dietary improvements.”

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SOURCE Southern Cross University

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