LocationsAgents of Change
Mobilising Youth and Media for Responsible Business Practices
Advancing BHR+E & R2HE
In Malaysia, Agents of Change (AOC) is elevating youth and media engagement in Business, Human Rights and the Environment (BHR+E) and the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment (R2HE), aligned with the National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights 2025-2030.
Background
Following the launch of its first National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights 2025-2030 (NAPBHR), the Business and Human Rights agenda continues to advance in Malaysia on key thematic areas – governance, labour and the environment – while underscoring intersectionality and the ways in which specific groups remain vulnerable through impacts on their substantive and procedural rights.
Critically, climate change is emerging as a compounding risk, particularly for underrepresented groups such as low-income communities, and migrant workers. These populations often face disproportionate exposure to environmental hazards such as flooding, heat stress, and coastal erosion, underscoring the need for duty bearers such as businesses to assess and mitigate their environmental and human rights risks.
Building on this background, AOC continues to advocate for the recognition of the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment (R2HE) and advance a constitutional protection of environmental rights in Malaysia in line with the national agenda.
Partnering with Youth and Media
Youth leadership in Malaysia has begun to drive systemic change by bringing heightened awareness to their experiences. With approximately 27.9% of the population in the country being youth aged 15 to 30, this demographic represents a significant portion of the population and plays a critical role as consumers, rightsholders, and future leaders, making them essential to the country’s sustainable future. Their needs and priorities are increasingly shaped by climate impacts, as highlighted in the Change for the Climate Report 2020 by UNDP and UNICEF Malaysia, supported by EcoKnights, that revealed that nine out of ten young Malaysians have experienced environmental and climate-related impacts in the past three years. This recognition of youth as key stakeholders in environmental issues sets the stage for Malaysia's role in advancing regional climate governance.
Similarly, the media has a critical role to play in bringing these human rights and environmental issues to the forefront, in shaping public opinion, and in ensuring that accountability is maintained for businesses to adopt responsible conduct. However, civic space conditions have been declining globally, including in Asia. Thus, shrinking civic space has had an impact in the ability of media to hold businesses and governments to account, and advocating for reform in the space of business and human rights (BHR). Several journalists, and environmental and human rights defenders have faced daunting challenges as harsh restrictions have been used to silence any form of dissent.
AOC seeks to partner with, and empower, youth and media actors to drive accountability and influence policy action in Asia. By engaging youth and media as mobilisers, the initiative aims to urge policymakers and businesses to address business-related human rights harms and adverse environmental impacts in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and related global standards on responsible business. The countries of focus for programming intervention include Malaysia, Indonesia, Mongolia and Thailand.
Highlights
Youth on The Right to a Clean, Healthy, and Sustainable Environment
Local youth groups, climate policy advocates, and environmental defenders convened at the Nature of Business Within Planetary Boundaries: Youth on the Right to a Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment
In 2025, against the backdrop of Malaysia’s 2025 ASEAN Chairmanship, AOC Malaysia delivered measurable impact in amplifying youth influence on regional and national policy processes. AOC convened three high-level policy engagements on Business, Human Rights and Environment, directly reaching 54 youths and civil society stakeholders, and successfully embedded youth and Indigenous community perspectives into the development of multiple ASEAN draft frameworks with the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) Malaysia, including those on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment and Promoting the Right to Development and the Right to Peace Towards Realising Inclusive and Sustainable Development. Both Declarations were adopted at the 47th ASEAN Summit in October 2025.
80 youth participants across ASEAN explored solutions to address human rights and environmental violations in the context of R2HE facilitated by AOC and the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) at the 4th ASEAN Youth Dialogue 2025.
In collaboration with YELL, AOC facilitated a programme at the 4th ASEAN Youth Dialogue to explore strategies to strengthen youth-led solutions to address human rights and environmental violations. Delegates from across ASEAN left the session with an increased awareness and understanding among youth of R2HE as a fundamental human right, including its interlinkages with responsible business practices and sustainability principles, culminating in the 4th ASEAN Youth Statement presented to ASEAN Leaders.
Discussion among 100 children and youth delegates across ASEAN at the Foresight Workshop: Reimagining ASEAN’s Climate Future, Centering Rights to a Healthy Environment at the ASEAN Children and Youth Climate Summit 2025
At the ASEAN Children and Youth Climate Summit 2025 in Langkawi, AOC co-led a session with UNICEF on “Reimagining ASEAN’s Climate Future, Centering Rights to a Healthy Environment”, convening 100 young leaders to examine environmental rights across Southeast Asia. Through a workshop that facilitated scenario-building using foresight and systems thinking tools, discussions were framed within the context of R2HE, encouraging a rights-based approach to environmental foresight. Delegates were further guided to consider the roles and responsibilities of rights-holders and duty-bearers, drawing on the Business, Human Rights and Environment framework. The outcome of the discussion reaffirms children and youth’s R2HE and climate justice in the Langkawi Declaration presented at the 18th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment.
Elevating Indigenous Women’s Environmental Justice Narratives
The AKWOA collective production team filming at an Orang Asli village at Kampung Petoh, Pahang.
AOC provided a grant to Apa Kata Wanita Orang Asli (AKWOA) through the Freedom Film Network, to produce short films centering Indigenous community perspectives on business, human rights and environmental impacts. Eight short films were produced, with bilingual subtitles (Bahasa Malaysia and English) for corporate audiences, while community-facing content translated concepts such as Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) into locally accessible narratives.
Their work goes beyond awareness-raising. Youth inputs facilitated through AOC contributed to regional discussions surrounding the ASEAN Declaration on the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment, ensuring that Indigenous and women’s perspectives are reflected in emerging environmental governance frameworks.
"The community’s confidence increased when they dared to share issues and experiences and to make suggestions through roleplay activities. This shows that they have started to understand their rights and are ready to make decisions themselves based on the interests of the whole community, which is a key foundation of FPIC. It also proves that safe spaces for the community to express views and opinions are very important so that their voices are truly heard and respected by companies and the government."- Diana a/p Tan Beng Hui, AKWOA collective
Strengthening Media Capacity for Responsible BHR+E Reporting
Discussion among training facilitator, Ms. Syarida Sharif, and participants of the Power of Stories: Training for Change on BHR+E workshop in Kuala Lumpur | 24 November 2025
In collaboration with Green Growth Asia Foundation and Young Reporters for the Environment Malaysia, AOC provided training to 24 media practitioners, including journalists, educators and youth communicators, on investigating and reporting business impacts on human rights and environmental issues.
At the start of the two-day media training held in Kuala Lumpur and Melaka, confidence levels varied across the 24 journalists, educators and youth communicators in the room: in Kuala Lumpur, only three out of ten participants felt confident covering sensitive human rights issues, and just two felt able to navigate frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ESG standards, the SDGs and Malaysia’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights, while in Melaka, although the majority arrived motivated to report on Business, Human Rights and the Environment, many questioned whether they had sufficient institutional backing or resources to do so. Through case studies, scenario-based exercises and practical discussions on ethical reporting, those gaps narrowed significantly. By the end of the training, all participants reported confidence in handling sensitive BHR+E issues, and overall, participants reported feeling empowered to use storytelling to spotlight business, human rights and environmental issues.
Youth-Led Campaigns on BHR+E
With AOC’s support, the Malaysian Youth Delegation produced over 60 multimedia content in English and Bahasa Malaysia, spotlighting the NAPBHR and related issues. Through the Justice in Frames fellowship, young Malaysian creators met weekly, refined scripts, debated framing, and published content that collectively generated over 77,000 views. At the same time, the Community Action Lab moved ideas offline, supporting 11 youth teams to design projects and implement nine community actions nationwide during a coordinated National Action Weekend. This initiative was also highlighted at COP30 in the Malaysia Pavilion.
In collaboration with Arus Academy’s media arm, Arus Productions, a campaign involving interviews with civil society organisations was developed to surface lived experiences behind Malaysia’s NAPBHR. Conversations with groups working on child labour and disrupted education, discrimination in recruitment, inclusive employment for persons with disabilities, healthcare access for vulnerable children, and Freedom of Information reform were filmed and published on YouTube, with shorter excerpts adapted for Instagram to reach younger audiences. Alongside the interviews, youth-friendly infographic carousels unpacked issues such as the gap between minimum wage and living wage, gig workers’ rights, ethical advertising to children, sustainable corporate gifting and the environmental cost of artificial intelligence. By placing these topics directly into youth digital spaces, the campaign translated policy commitments into recognisable, everyday realities about work, technology and community life.
