Asia Pacific Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2022

The increasing attention paid by large companies in Singapore to identify their material ESG topics stems from evolving guidance and requirements from Singapore authorities and the country’s stock exchange, as well as from increasing investor and consumer demand.

Singapore’s stock exchange requires listed companies to publish annual sustainability reports identifying their material ESG factors, on a comply-or-explain basis. Companies are also expected to report on how they have reviewed their businesses and value chains to determine ESG factors that are material to business continuity. More recent disclosure requirements have focused on climate risks and strategies, diversity policies, and company readiness for non-financial assurance. Singapore’s monetary authority in 2020 also issued guidance for financial institutions on managing their material environmental risks.

National-level targets have galvanized businesses across sectors to embed pertinent ESG topics in their strategies and operations. These include Singapore’s enhancement of its existing GHG reduction target in 2022 — to halve emissions by 2050 — and its broader sustainability goals set out in the Singapore Green Plan 2030.

Furthermore, companies are also focusing on material topics in anticipation of Singapore’s increasing carbon tax, which will require large emitters to pay S$25 (~US$18) per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tC02e) emitted from 2024. The level and trajectory of this tax will be reviewed in the coming years to reflect the cost of carbon and influence investment decisions as a key lever of the Singaporean economy’s “green transition”. In all, we see only increasing commitment from companies in Singapore to enhance their levels of ESG disclosure.