SGFIN Sustainability Summit 2024

21 Mar 2024

On 21 March 2024, SGFIN hosted its annual SGFIN Sustainability Summit, attracting a large number of experts from the sustainable finance community. Centred around the theme of ‘The Costs and Opportunities of Commitment to Net-Zero,’ the summit engaged in critical discussions addressing the pressing need for a smooth transition to net-zero economic models to mitigate irreversible climate damage.

The Guest of Honour for the event was Mr Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies. During his speech, DPM Heng addressed the pressing issue of climate change, emphasizing its increasingly disruptive and costly effects on a global scale, including within Singapore. He therefore called for collective action and innovative solutions to tackle these challenges effectively. Speaking about Singapore’s commitment to achieving net-zero by 2050, DPM Heng cited several initiatives being undertaken, including the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and the Industry Transformation Maps. Recognizing the pivotal role of the finance sector in enabling countries to reach their net-zero goals, he delved into three key strategies to support the Asia Pacific region’s transition to net-zero: expanding the talent pool in sustainable finance, developing robust regulatory standards, good analytical tools and trusted financial platforms, and facilitating the flow of venture and private equity capital to support impactful deep-tech innovations. DPM Heng concluded by expressing his elation at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between SGFIN and the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) as it was another step forward in collaborative efforts to address climate change through sustainable finance initiatives.

The keynote address, titled “Economics of the Global Energy Challenge” was delivered by Professor Michael Greenstone, Director of EPIC, Founding Director of Energy and Climate Institute and Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics at the University of Chicago. Professor Greenstone identified market failures in energy pricing, innovation, and information as central hurdles. He outlined three main goals: providing affordable and reliable energy, minimizing air pollution, and mitigating climate change impacts. Proposing the incorporation of social costs into energy pricing and advocating for more substantial carbon taxes, he stressed the importance of government intervention in fostering innovation and addressing information gaps to drive behavioural changes. Ultimately, Professor Greenstone called for concerted global efforts to transition to clean energy and navigate the complexities of the global energy challenge.

Professor Sumit Agarwal, Managing Director of SGFIN, underscored the critical need for the financial sector to prioritise environmentally sustainable economic growth to avoid dire consequences. He called for a comprehensive reshaping of economic and financial systems, as well as a redefinition of fairness in resource usage. As transition commitments transform to actions, he urged companies to swiftly adapt to the changing landscape and highlighted the emergence of new entities ready to offer future-ready technologies, resources, supply chains and associated infrastructures. Professor Agarwal acknowledged that there were several challenges in this transition, including the need to balance stakeholder demands, inconsistent standards in data monitoring and reporting, and geopolitical obstacles impeding collaborative efforts.

The event also featured discussions on various topics by industry experts, including “Developing Energy Infrastructures to Decouple Emissions from Real-Economic Activity”, “Regulatory and Legal Developments in Global and Regional Transitions to Net Zero”, “Growing ‘Beyond Compliance’: Keeping Up and Going Beyond Changing Standards in the Built Environment", and “Leveraging Digital Innovations to Achieve Sustainability Ambitions".