The SGFIN Whitepaper Series offers research-driven insights on sustainability, ESG data, carbon footprint analysis, and impact valuation. These publications support businesses and policymakers in making informed, forward-looking decisions.
Visit this page regularly for new whitepapers and the latest thought leadership.
Transition and Physical Climate Risks in Bank Loan Portfolios Across the Indonesian Banking System
Zhang Feimo | Sevi W. Perwitasari | Wang Chenye | Desmond Tay | Asda J. Pandiangan | Johan Sulaeman
As physical risks from climate change escalate globally, financial systems face mounting climate-related vulnerabilities. Indonesia’s banking sector also faces compounding exposure. The country’s low-lying coastal geography and fossil fuel-dependent economy create dual vulnerabilities, both transitional and physical. Transition stress testing reveals that coal, oil, gas, and electricity sector borrowers face disproportionately higher default risks during volatile periods, with expected losses potentially rising 35%. Flooding poses particularly severe physical risks, threatening borrower asset values significantly. By 2060, major banks could face annual asset losses averaging 0.4% under moderate climate scenarios, and rising over 60% under severe projections. Stronger provisioning, improved capital planning, and enhanced climate risk monitoring frameworks are urgently needed.
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Understanding Net Zero Commitments by Singaporean Firms
David C. Broadstock | Sean Shin | Weina Zhang | Johan Sulaeman
As Singapore advances toward its national goal of net zero emissions by 2050, understanding how listed companies in Singapore are responding is critical for investors, policymakers, and businesses alike. This whitepaper provides a comprehensive, evidence-based assessment of net zero commitments made by Singapore-headquartered listed firms, based on detailed manual screening of annual and sustainability reports.
Farming Practices, Financing Constraints, and Trust Barriers in Indonesia’s Rice Sector
Hiswaty Hafid | Asda J Pandiangan | Johan Sulaeman
This paper provides a detailed examination of the financial vulnerabilities faced by smallholder rice farmers in Indonesia. This paper presents findings from a large-scale survey of 3,030 rice-farming households, highlighting the underlying barriers to productivity, financial inclusion, and climate resilience.
Sustainable Business in Biofuels
Weina Zhang | Michael Alexander | Feimo Zhang | Fanny Xueqi Or | Jefferson | Jiaxin Zhang
This whitepaper aims to support the efforts towards scaling and commercialising the biofuels in a more financially and environmentally sustainable manner, equipping stakeholders in the biofuel industry with the knowledge on key gaps and opportunities within biofuels’ business models, financing, and policy landscapes.
Consumption Carbon Footprint: Country Level Data Framework
Flavia Badarinza | Johannine Enerio | Devansh Joshi | Johan Sulaeman | Sumit Agarwal
This whitepaper presents a country-agnostic algorithm for estimating household and individual carbon footprints based on personal consumption baskets.
Harmonized Framework for Corporate Sustainability Evaluation
Asda Pandiangan | Saranraj Rajindran | Zhang Feimo | Johan Sulaeman
This whitepaper outlines SGFIN’s Sustainability Evaluation Framework (SEF) that integrates corporate operations and value chain, strategic planning, and external validation through independent audits and adherence to global reporting standards.
Consumption Carbon Footprint: Singapore Case Study
Flavia Badarinza | Johannine Enerio | Devansh Joshi | Johan Sulaeman | Sumit Agarwal
This whitepaper aims to provide an assessment of Singapore’s household consumption carbon footprint using the country-agnostic algorithm described in the SGFIN Whitepaper “Consumption Carbon Footprint: Country Level Data Framework”. It seeks to highlight carbon impacts across income groups and consumption categories while identifying pathways for footprint reduction and opportunities for carbon labelling and value-chain decarbonization.
Improving the Integrity of Sustainability Data: Reviewing Environmental Coverage of Sustainability Data Providers
Saranraj Rajindran | Tifanny Hendratama | Johan Sulaeman
This whitepaper aims to highlight the inconsistencies in underlying sustainability data that informs sustainability ratings, quantify the data gaps in Southeast Asia, and provide insights to enhance the usefulness of sustainability data for commercial, financial and research purposes.
Principles and Requirements for Evaluating Carbon Credit Frameworks
Desmond Tay | Michael Alexander | Syalabi Seet | Johan Sulaeman
This whitepaper aims to propose a robust methodology and a set of principles and requirements to evaluate carbon credit verification frameworks. Using the methodology, we examine dominant frameworks in the global carbon market and evaluate their ability to support high quality carbon credits.
Integrated Impact Valuation Framework for Green Buildings
Jefferson | Weina Zhang | Aaron Mueller | Chunyu Yang
This whitepaper introduces SGFIN’s integrated impact valuation framework for green buildings: a comprehensive approach built on the harmonized impact indicators of 13 existing building certification standards and impact measurement frameworks. Our proposed framework integrates Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (EESG) impacts into a unified monetary assessment model, providing a better understanding of the impact values created by green buildings.
A Guide to Sustainable Events: Singapore MICE Carbon Calculator
Yannis Yuan | Johannine Enerio | Weina Zhang
This whitepaper aims to present a web-based carbon calculation toolkit tailored to Singapore’s MICE sector, detailing its methodology and local data enhancements to help organizers estimate and assess the carbon footprint of their events.
ESG Data Primer: Current Usage & Future Applications
Tifanny Hendratama | David C. Broadstock | Johan Sulaeman
This whitepaper aims to clarify the fundamentals, sources, and limitations of ESG data, offering a practical introduction to help investors and researchers better understand its use, variability, and implications for responsible investing.