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CFOs are responsible for securing external finance from shareholders, investors and banks. Green finance refers to the use of structured financial products or services to mitigate and/or adapt to climate change, biodiversity loss and other environmental risks.
This section aims to show you how to communicate effectively with these stakeholders about long-term value creation, understand what green finance is and guide you through the use of its tools. As countries actively explore how to unlock potential climate change investment opportunities for both mitigation and adaptation, the information on green finance will change very quickly.
In this section, we also provide related links to keep you up to date with the latest information on green finance so that you can explore a green finance strategy with maximum impact for your business and the planet we live on.
There are many advantages to being an early mover in sustainable business development in Singapore. One of these is the opportunity to benefit from available grants. See in the resource section, all public funds and grants available in Singapore.
Here are some of them:
- Enterprise Development Grant (EDG)
Under EDG, Enterprise Singapore has included a sustainability component in business strategy development which includes:
** Environmental, Social, and Governance Reporting Framework Development,
** Sustainability Risk Assessment, Material Foot printing,
** Sustainability Strategy Development, and
** Sustainability Value Creation.
Companies applying for EDG support for consultancy-related costs must engage management consultants with Enterprise Singapore-recognised certification. Applications will be assessed by Enterprise Singapore based on project scope, project outcomes and competency of the service provider. Learn more
- SG Eco Fund
The SG Eco Fund was launched by Singapore's Ministry of Sustainability and Environment and is open to the private and public sectors. With a total value of S$50 million, it includes 2 categories: Sprout and Main. If your green project has significant environmental impact, works with the community and has not received funding from other government sources, this is a great opportunity for you, please follow the link below to start your application:
- 3R Fund
The 3R Fund is a co-funding scheme open to all organisations in Singapore. If your business is focused on implementing waste minimisation and recycling projects, please follow the link below to start your application:
1) Eligibility & Application Process
- Energy Efficiency Fund
If your company owns or operates an industrial facility and is also a partner in the National Energy Efficiency Partnership Programme. Please follow the link below to start your application:
2）Application Process: please email: NEA_E2F@nea.gov.sg
- Water Efficiency Fund
Water Efficiency Fund was launched by PUB, supports research on water waste management, from exploration to implementation.
Green Loans are made to finance a 'green project' that promotes environmental sustainability. A green project can be anything that has a clear environmental benefit. Green loans can help the business to access liquidity and better economic conditions. You can read more on the World Bank and DBS resources to understand the basics of a Green Loan. The Green Loan Principle Framework allows businesses to clearly understand the characteristics of a Green Loan.
In the region, EFS-Green and its partner financial institution, CIMB, are facilitating greater access to green finance for companies developing technologies and solutions that reduce waste, resource consumption or greenhouse gas emissions, particularly in the clean energy, circular economy, green infrastructure and clean transport sectors. Banks in Singapore are also encouraged to develop green and sustainability-linked lending frameworks to make such financing more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Once you have a clear idea of your funding needs, it is advisable to look at the green and sustainability-linked loan schemes in Singapore that may be available to you to secure some funding for your projects.
Green bonds are public debt financing for an environmental project. Green bonds can offer tax advantages, providing incentives to invest in sustainable projects that are not available to other comparable types of bonds. However, as the frameworks for green bonds and green loans are similar in nature, a green loan is based on a loan, typically smaller than a bond, in a private transaction, and the funds from green bonds are committed to environmental or climate change projects, such as investments in renewable energy.
In Singapore, MAS will subsidise up to S$100,000 of additional costs for external audits of eligible green, social, sustainability and sustainability-linked bonds, and encourages the adoption of internationally accepted standards for green bonds of a minimum size of $200 million.
Other references for Green Bonds:
- Green Bonds - the reserve management perspective
- ICMA - Voluntary Process Guidelines for Issuing Green Bonds
- Sustainalytics - Simplifying Sustainable Finance – Explaining Green Bonds, Green Loans, Sustainability Linked Loans and Bonds and More
- Sustainalytics - Sustainability-Linked Financial Instruments: Creating Targets and Measuring Your Company's Performance
A business angel (also known as an angel investor) is an individual or group of individuals who invest a percentage of equity in early stage or start-up businesses. As with banks, entrepreneurs need a strong business plan. However, angel investors can offer different levels of funding and are usually more flexible than traditional banks. One of the benefits that some angel investors bring to the relationship is that they often act as mentors as well as providing seed funding and investment.
In Singapore today, there are many ways to find a business angel who specialises in sustainability, or to attract one using the green aspect of your business. What they are most interested in is making sure that the company is not greenwashing, but also that the company is not emitting too much CO2. These are the 2 main KPIs that investors are looking for.
Some business angels are SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) accredited. Being accredited by the SEC is a very good indicator of whether the business angel can provide funding to the company.
Other Reference links:
- Globis Insights - The Golden Rules for Pitching Sustainability to Angel Investors
When communicating with stakeholders, it is important to link your sustainability efforts to the company's ability to create long-term value. Sustainability reporting alone will not help investors understand long-term value creation. What is needed is an explanation of how environmental and social impacts are linked to economic performance.
Integrated Reporting <IR>, now part of the IFRS Foundation, can be a valuable framework to help you think about the business long-term value creation, and how to communicate about it to the board, banks and investors. Read more on our sustainability reporting resource.
Integrated Reporting is based on Integrated Thinking, which revolves around the relationships between the organisation and the different types of capital: Financial, Manufactured, Natural, Human, Social, and Intellectual capital.
Analysing how the different natures of capital are affected by the company's operations will improve the quality of the reporting and make the allocation of investments more efficient and sustainable.
The « sustainability journey » may feel overwhelming sometimes, but you are not alone.
Our Buddies have tried, succeeded, failed to implement change in their companies. They share their experience so you can learn, take shortcuts, get inspired and ask questions.
Everybody can become a Buddy and give back to the community; if you are keen, get in touch with us.
Mun Wei is the founder and principal consultant of SustainableSG, which provides advisory and training services in sustainability, strategy, risk and entrepreneurship.
He has worked with corporate, government and non-profit clients on strategy and implementation, reviewing organizational programmes and targets related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, benchmarking and communicating sustainability and other corporate programmes and achievements, promoting inclusive hiring, developing compliance policies and reports, and formulating innovative business models.
He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
I am Naomi, currently co-founder & director of givvable. I started my career as an Australian diplomat with postings in East Timor, Thailand and Switzerland then moved into private banking where my interest in ESG and sustainability was seeded.
Today my company helps businesses screen and track the sustainability profile of their suppliers to help them achieve their goals and targets.
Of French, Swiss and Filipino descent, I am a versatile purpose-driven leader with experience across a range of industry sectors. I have built a global career as a Marketing & Communications specialist and Social Entrepreneur intent on solving some of the world's most pressing issues.
Today, I run my own consultancy business helping clients define their purpose, develop their marketing, communications, CSR and sustainability strategies and I am also a Board Member and Advisor to several purpose-led organisations in the Social Impact, ESG, Fintech and Cellular Agriculture spaces.
Radhika is the Co-founder of Tulyā, A Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA) Services company. Her work includes measurement and understanding of the impact environmental and social factors will have on the value creation for SMEs. She develops tailored tools and practices that integrate material topics (ESG & Business) with accounting statements line items to demonstrate financial impact of action vs inaction.
She has worked with Lehman Brothers, Barclays and IT services companies before starting her entrepreneurial journey in sustainability.
She is a graduate in Chemical Engineering and has been certified in SASB , PMP, CSM & Design Thinking-MIT.
I enjoy improving processes and creating data-driven insights. My background is in process development and operations as Quality Manager and COO. A few years back, I decided to re-purpose my career and have since then studied different aspects of Sustainable Business Development at the University in Sweden as well as the Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI, SASB, TCFD and ISSB work in progress).
Now, I am here to help SMEs integrate sustainability into their business strategy and operations, focusing on the impact that environmental and social aspects will have on the organisation's ability to create value. By reducing the scope to the most relevant materiality topics, even SMEs with limited resources have a chance to start their transition to more sustainable practices.
Passionate about sustainability and technology, I have spent the last 10 years working in the energy, tech and sustainability sectors. I am VP of Sales at Zuno Carbon, a climate-tech providing end to end carbon management and ESG reporting solutions.
Zuzana is experienced risk management consultant, project manager and trainer. She is Director at Tamotsu Institute, a sustainability consulting firm, and Programme Lead for corporate trainings at The Matcha Initiative. She views sustainability from the risk management perspective, making companies aware of the financial risks and opportunities involved.
She has studied Sustainability Leadership at the Imperial College of London and is certified in Sustainability and Climate Risk by the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) and in Recommendations of the Task force for Climate-related Financial Disclosure by the TCFD.
