New sustainable finance platform launched to support collaboration across industries
SINGAPORE – A new body that incorporates expertise from across the economy will make it easier for companies and other entities to collaborate with the financial sector to drive sustainability initiatives.
The Singapore Sustainable Finance Association (SSFA) launched on Jan 24 is the first cross-sectoral industry body to support the development of Singapore as a leading global centre for sustainable finance.
It includes members from the financial services, non-financial sector corporates, academia, non-governmental organisations and other industry bodies.
The co-chairs for its first term are Ms Deborah Ho, BlackRock country head of Singapore and regional head of South-east Asia, and HSBC Singapore chief executive Wong Kee Joo.
New Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Chia Der Jiun told the launch ceremony that the association can lead the way in developing industry best practices in areas such as carbon credits trading and transition finance.
It can also bring together financial bodies and industry sectors to address barriers that hinder compiling the financing needed for sustainability projects, he added.
For example, it can combine financing solutions from different asset classes, including risk mitigation tools, to help to make projects more bankable.
“This applies not only in climate mitigation, but also in financing less bankable projects related to climate adaptation and biodiversity preservation,” Mr Chia noted.
He added that the new body can also contribute to upskilling and capacity-building, by guiding the relevance of sustainable finance courses, including training offered by Institutes of Higher Learning and other providers.
It can also organise capacity building workshops in areas not readily offered by training providers, such as carbon markets, taxonomy application and blended finance.
“Singapore has come a long way in sustainable finance in less than 10 years,” Mr Chia said. “Today, Singapore is one of the leading sustainable finance centres serving the net-zero transition needs in Asia and beyond.”
He noted that Singapore remains Asean’s largest market for green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds and loans. More than $30 billion worth of such financing originated here in 2022.
It also has a carbon services and trading ecosystem of over 100 companies, the highest concentration in the region.