World Construction Network

Daily Newsletter

07 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

The Western Australian (WA) Government has announced that Chung Wah Association will build a multimillion-dollar community centre in the city of Bentley.

The land component is in addition to the state government’s A$5m funding for the development of the new community facility.

This financing and land allotment meets an election pledge to promote the state's culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

Citizenship and Multicultural Interests Minister Tony Buti said: “The Chung Wah Association, as WA’s oldest culturally and linguistically diverse organisation, has been providing essential community services for over a century.

“The A$5m funding and land package by our government [Labor] recognises the growing demands on this not-for-profit community association. It will enable the Chung Wah Association to extend the reach of its important services across the metropolitan area.”

The centre will expand the association's services, including care for elderly people, community language programmes, bilingual daycare, as well as cultural and sports events.

The funds to build the centre will be administered through the state's Office of Multicultural Interests.

Premier Roger Cook said: “Western Australia’s Chinese communities have made significant contributions to the social, cultural, and economic development of this state.

“The Chung Wah Association has long been the backbone of its community and delivers a range of services such as aged care, community language schools and well-loved cultural events.

“Providing this funding and land delivers on a key election commitment to support multiculturalism in Western Australia and recognises the important work that the Chung Wah Association undertakes to support the community.”

ESG 2.0 marks a shift towards stricter environmental rules

ESG is moving into a different era, which we call ESG 2.0. While ESG 1.0 was driven by voluntary corporate action, spurred by pressure from activist consumers and investors, ESG 2.0 is being driven by a new wave of government policies. The EU has taken the regulatory lead, with rules introduced or in the pipeline that will price emissions, regulate the use of the terms ‘ESG’ and ‘sustainability’ in marketing materials, and make ESG reporting mandatory. The US has taken a different approach, favoring less regulation and more financial support in the form of tax breaks for clean industry (renewables plus nuclear and hydrogen). China is planning to expand its emissions trading system to more sectors, decarbonize its heavy industry, and ramp up its use of renewables. The new policy direction is mainly motivated by the ambition to hit net zero emissions targets. But on top of this, governments are now competing for clean industry and trying to challenge China’s leadership on the production of the world’s green technologies such as solar panels and batteries, as well as the production and refinement of materials needed for energy transition such as lithium. These driving forces are leading to policy that will impact every sector, not just heavy industry, and will keep ESG near the top of the regulatory agenda over the longer term.