4 Steps of Pertamina’s ESG Public Communication Strategy

August 15, 2023

SPECIAL INTERVIEW: Fadjar Djoko Santoso VP Corporate Communication, PT Pertamina (Persero)

As a leading energy state-owned enterprise, Pertamina is committed to providing power and developing new and renewable energy to support national energy independence. Overseeing six Subholdings in the energy sector, Pertamina is fully committed to communicating ESG policies to its internal and external stakeholders.

Fadjar D. Santoso, VP Corporate Communication, PT Pertamina Persero said, “Our commitment is driven by the awareness to not compromising the ability of future generations in meeting their needs,” he continued, “We have a Sustainability policy that is in line with global sustainability practices. So that our efforts as a company that is environmentally friendly, socially responsible, and upholds good corporate governance, can be well-accepted nationally and internationally, such as SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals, TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure), and actively participate in UN Global Compact, as well as carrying out sustainability disclosures by global standards.”

As a speaker at the International Association of Business Communicators Indonesia (IABC) with the theme “Sustainability Today, Legacy for Tomorrow” at Plenary Session 1, in Jakarta, Friday (14/7/2023), Fadjar explained Pertamina’s strategic public communication steps from goal setting, implementation, key messages, to monitoring and evaluating impacts through several measurement indicators.

“The main focus lies on Governance. The first strategy is Conditioning, namely creating information related to the implementation of ESG in its operations, and the efforts made by Pertamina in its commitment to support ESG programs,” said Fadjar.

Second, Reminding. “We communicate every progress through the mass media and social media so that stakeholders continue to see Pertamina’s consistency in implementing ESG.” Then third, Developing, which creates various information related to ESG through third parties, such as social observers, energy observers, and the like.”

“The last strategy is Strengthening, where we inform Pertamina’s ESG Rating that it is getting better, to maintain investor trust,” said Fadjar.

Pertamina Pak Fadjar
Fadjar Djoko Santoso, VP Corporate Communication, PT Pertamina (Persero) explained at the 2023 IABC Mid-Year Conference in Jakarta, Friday (14/7/2023), the green business initiatives at Pertamina with international standards.

One concrete example of Pertamina’s commitment to ESG is its efforts to manage carbon emission waste by capturing it and turning it into an energy source. “We are thinking about how the carbon emissions generated from our industry can be used as a source of energy again. For example in the CCS (Carbon Captor Storage) project. In simple terms, we capture the emissions produced and collect them to be used as energy again so that no emissions are wasted into the open air, “explained Fadjar.

“This effort yielded good results where based on Sustainalytics independent assessment, in a two-year period (2021-2022), Pertamina won an ESG rating of 41.6 – severe risk, then improved to 28.1, then to 22.1 – medium risk. In the oil and gas sub-industry, Pertamina is ranked 2nd in the world for its ESG.”

Pertamina is also committed to supporting the Indonesian government in achieving Net Zero in 2060 or sooner, by developing a roadmap for asset decarbonization and green business development. In this regard, several new emission reduction initiatives from the company’s operations, with a total accumulated reduction of 707,670 tons of CO2eq in 2022. “We managed to reduce approximately 7 million metric tons of emissions, and in total this year we have managed to reduce emissions by 31 percent and the hope is that in the coming year it will be even higher,” added Fadjar.

Pertamina Pak Fadjar
Appreciation to Fadjar Djoko Santoso, VP Corporate Communication, PT Pertamina (Persero) as panelist session 1 IABC Mid-Year Conference given by Elvera N. Makki, President, IABC - Indonesia Chapter.

Pertamina’s mission in achieving sustainability includes managing risks and opportunities related to the environment, society, and government, and effective communication with stakeholders.

Even though he has implemented all the programs, Fadjar revealed, “Communicating ESG is still a challenge for us to this day, for that, we continue to carry out various new strategies and approaches so that our sustainability communication can continue to be echoed to Pertamina’s core stakeholders,” he explained.

Until now, the achievement of Pertamina’s ESG communication program has reached more than 6,500 news articles related to ESG, with 90 percent positive coverage. n addition, this program also has a positive impact on Pertamina’s reputation as an energy company committed to ESG principles locally and globally.