Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast is included in the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei (UNGCMYB) ESG Select List 2025 as a 1-Star Lister under the ESG Breakthrough Innovation category, recognising the resort’s efforts to advance biodiversity interpretation and community-connected sustainability initiatives within Malaysia’s hospitality sector sustainability landscape.
The ESG Select List recognises organisations demonstrating measurable progress in embedding Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principles into business strategy and operations, aligned with the UN Global Compact’s Ten Principles and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast, these principles are expressed through guest-facing environmental interpretation experiences that introduce visitors to the biodiversity of the Desaru Coast landscape.
A key component of this approach is the resort’s ongoing collaboration with JungleWalla Desaru Coast, supporting guided nature discovery activities and conservation awareness programmes that connect guests and families with the coastal and forest ecosystems surrounding the destination.
Complementing these efforts is Echoes of the Wild, an environmental interpretation installation that presents stories of native wildlife through sound and visual storytelling, creating accessible opportunities for guests to engage with local biodiversity and deepen appreciation of the region’s natural habitats.
“The ESG Select List recognition is meaningful for us because it reflects how we’ve been approaching sustainability at the resort not as something separate from the guest experience, but as something guests can actually connect with. Through initiatives like Echoes of the Wild and our collaboration with JungleWalla Desaru Coast, we’re finding simple ways to bring the natural environment around us into everyday moments of discovery. If guests leave with a greater awareness of the wildlife that shares this coastline with them, then we know we’re making a real impact,” said Murray Aitken, General Manager and Area Vice President, Hotel Operations – Asia, Hard Rock International.
“We’ve always believed sustainability shouldn’t feel distant or technical. When guests discover the wildlife around them through simple experiences like Echoes of the Wild, it becomes something personal and easier to remember. That’s where awareness really begins,” added Yana Ali, Sustainability & ESG Manager of Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast.
Through its inclusion in the ESG Select List 2025, Hard Rock Hotel Desaru Coast joins organisations across Malaysia supporting the Forward Faster initiative led by the UN Global Compact Network Malaysia & Brunei to help accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.
The recognition reflects the resort’s broader role in advancing responsible and sustainable tourism development in Desaru Coast as part of its long-term environmental education and biodiversity interpretation efforts, where community collaboration continues to shape its sustainability direction.
