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August 31, 2024

Driving Sustainability: how different industries are viewed in SEA

Southeast Asia is embracing ESG principles to drive sustainability across key industries. Banking, automotive, energy, and government sectors are leading efforts through innovation and collaboration, highlighting their strategies and contributions to a greener future.

Banking and finance pioneers sustainable finance

This sector has emerged as a leader in ESG adoption, reflecting its commitment to sustainability and social responsibility. Across Southeast Asia, financial institutions are focusing on green finance initiatives such as carbon emission reduction projects and issuing green bonds. Thai banks, for instance, are embedding sustainability in operations, with strategies like Krungsri’s “3GO” approach (Go Green, Digital, Beyond). This trend highlights the sector’s role in financing environmentally and socially conscious projects while fostering regional ESG integration​​.

Automotives drive towards electrification and mobility

The automotive industry in the region is embracing ESG through electrification and sustainable mobility. Governments and companies are collaborating to build robust EV infrastructure, integrating renewable energy solutions, and advancing battery technologies. Brands like Toyota lead with innovations in hydrogen fuel cells and hybrid vehicles with events like Intermach 2024 underscoring Southeast Asia’s focus on technology-driven carbon neutrality in manufacturing. These efforts aim to reduce the sector’s reliance on fossil fuels while improving production efficiency​.

Energy, power and manufacturing: A shift to green innovation

Energy-intensive sectors are focusing heavily on clean energy transitions, with solar, wind, and green hydrogen projects at the forefront. Regional collaborations help industries adopt renewable energy solutions and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Thailand’s solar farms for example, and international partnerships for wind energy projects are proof of some of the proactive work done in this domain. Events like the ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week highlight technological advancements and collective efforts in decarbonization and sustainable manufacturing.

Governments working to enhance policy leadership and strategic partnerships

Governments across Southeast Asia are shaping ESG agendas with policy initiatives like green bonds and support for sustainable aviation fuels. Thailand’s commitment to a green economy, as showcased in its “Fiscal GreenPrint” and the electric vehicle ecosystem project, reflects regional autonomy on such initiatives and that governments are open to inculcating ESG goals on all fronts. Collaborative efforts between public institutions and private players are fostering innovation in green tech, emphasizing the role of governance in advancing sustainability goals​.

Focus on emerging trends and challenges

ESG narratives are increasingly interconnected across industries. For example, banking initiatives are driving green investments in energy and mobility sectors. However, misinformation and political opposition challenge adoption, particularly in regions sceptical of its benefits. The anti-ESG movement’s framing of sustainability as “politicized” highlights the need for clear communication and stakeholder engagement​.

A Collaborative ESG Landscape

Southeast Asia’s ESG journey is marked by collaboration, innovation, and a shared vision for sustainable growth. From financing renewable energy projects to fostering green mobility and enacting supportive policies, the region is setting benchmarks for integrating ESG principles. Continued regional cooperation across sectors are key to scaling these efforts.

Want to catch up to our latest insights and reports? Contact nikita.gundala@isentia.com to learn more.

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Australia has been a hot destination in higher education for international students, but with recent policy changes and growing anxiety around housing, the student journey has seen a shift, impacting intake into the top Australian universities and making the process a bit unpredictable.

In our analysis we also zoom into the Southeast Asian region, where we uncover what priorities drive students from this region to apply at Australian universities, how housing plays a role and what kind of career outcomes they would expect post-study.

In this report we analyse over 3k posts across social and online media to unpack:

  • How Australian universities are navigating a "crisis of governance" and public trust, with intense media scrutiny on budget deficits, leadership accountability, and long-term financial sustainability.
  • How the rapid integration of AI is seen as both a transformative academic toolkit and an existential threat, forcing institutions to prioritise AI literacy and redesign assessments to combat risks like deep fakes and academic misconduct.
  • How shifting Australian migration policies have made policy safety the primary concern for Southeast Asian students, influencing how they weigh university reputation against visa hurdles and long-term career ambitions.

Reflecting on the media reporting from 2025 provides institutions with the tools to craft communication strategies that address both the domestic demand for accountability and the international student's need for security and value.

Please fill in the forms below and access our reports to get a deeper insight on audience sentiment and behaviour when deciding an education and career in Australia.

Access the SEA insights report here

Access the ANZ insights report here

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Analysing Australia’s higher education landscape in 2025

A deep dive into how global audiences perceive Australian higher education and the university sector with a spotlight on the SEA region.

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The media landscape is accelerating. In an era where influence is ephemeral and every angle demands instant comprehension, PR and communications professionals require more than generic technology—they need intelligence engineered for their specific challenges.

Isentia is proud to introduce Lumina, a groundbreaking suite of intelligent AI tools. Lumina has been trained from the ground up on the complex workflows and realities of modern communications and public affairs. It is explicitly designed to shift professionals from passive media monitoring back into the role of strategic leaders and pacesetters. 

“The PR, Comms and Public Affairs sectors have been experimenting with AI, but most tools have not been built with their real challenges in mind.” said Joanna Arnold, CEO of Pulsar Group. 

“Lumina is different; it is the first intelligence suite designed around how narratives actually form today, combining human credibility signals with machine-level analysis. It helps teams understand how stories evolve, filter out noise and respond with context and confidence to crises and opportunities.”

Setting a new standard for PR intelligence

Lumina is centered on empowering, not replacing, the human element of communications strategy. This suite is purpose-built to help PR, Comms, and Public Affairs professionals significantly improve productivity, enhance message clarity, and facilitate early risk detection.

Lumina enables communicators to:

  • Understand & Interpret: Move beyond basic alerts to strategically map the trajectory and spread of narrative evolution.
  • Focus & Personalise: Achieve the clarity necessary to execute strategic action before critical moments pass.
  • Execute & Monitor: Rapidly deploy strategy firmly rooted in real-time, actionable insight.

Get a demo today: Stories & Perspectives module

We are launching the Lumina suite by making our first module immediately available: Stories & Perspectives.

In the current fragmented, multi-channel media environment, communications professionals need to be able to instantly perceive not just how a story is growing, but also how it is being perceived across different stakeholder groups.

Stories & Perspectives organizes raw media mentions into clustered, cohesive Stories, and the Perspectives that exist within each, reflecting distinct media, audience, and public affairs angles. This unique functionality allows users to:

  • Rise above the noise: Instantly identify which high-level topics are gaining momentum or fading from attention.
  • Get to the detail, fast: Uncover the influential voices, niche communities, and specific channels actively shaping the narrative.
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"Media isn’t a stream of mentions," said Kyle Lindsay, Head of Product at Pulsar Group. "But rather a living system of stories shaped by competing perspectives. When you can see those structures clearly, you gain the ability to understand issues as they form, anticipate how they’ll evolve, and act with precision. That’s what we mean when we talk about AI built for communicators, and that's what an off-the-shelf LLM can't give you."

The Lumina Roadmap: AI tools for the future of comms

The launch of Stories & Perspectives is the first release of many. Over the upcoming months, we will systematically roll out the full Lumina roadmap, introducing a comprehensive set of AI tools engineered to handle every phase of the communications lifecycle.

The full Lumina suite will soon incorporate:

  • Curated media summaries: AI-driven daily summaries customized specifically to the priorities of senior leadership, highlighting only the most relevant stories.
  • Reputation analysis: Advanced measurement tracking how critical themes like ethics, innovation, and leadership are statistically shaping corporate perception.
  • Press release & media relations assistant: Tools designed to accelerate content creation and craft hyper-focused, personalized pitches that reach the precise contacts faster.
  • Predictive intelligence layer: Technology engineered to track and anticipate story momentum and strategic change before the window of opportunity closes.
  • Intelligent agents: Background agents continuously scanning all media channels for emerging key spokespeople and previously undetected reputation risks.
  • Enhanced audio, broadcast & crisis detection: Complete, real-time oversight of all channels—including audio and broadcast—enabling rapid context building and optimal crisis response delivery.

Want to harness the power of Lumina AI for your PR, Comms, or Public Affairs team? .

Complete the form below to register your interest.

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Announcing Lumina: The purpose-built AI suite for PR, Comms, and Public Affairs

An intelligent suite of AI tools trained on the language, workflows, and realities of modern public relations and communications.

Ready to get started?

Get in touch or request a demo.

Contact us Request a demo