How Are Digital Platforms Supporting Singapore’s Green Finance?

Introduction

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) recently announced that it will work with the industry to test four digital platforms as part of a greenprint project to meet the financial sector’s demand for superior sustainability data. Launched in December 2020, the Greenprint project aims to leverage innovation and technology to foster a green financial ecosystem by helping to mobilize capital, monitor sustainability efforts and measure impacts. The Green FinTech ecosystem development, Greenprint Marketplace and Greenprint Data Platform are the three strategic drivers of Project Greenprint. 

Bridging these gaps will allow financial institutions to redirect resources to more scalable sustainability projects. Financial institutions’ commitment to sustainability is well-monitored and portfolio risks and actual impacts are quantified using  data. The platform pilot project is expected to be completed in the second half of 2022. 

• Greenprint Common Disclosure Portal– The portal aims to simplify the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure process by transforming data entries into different reporting formats set by different jurisdictions and goals. This gives international investors and financial institutions easy access to company and project information. The platform can also be used by enterprises as an internal ESG monitoring and management tool. 
• Greenprint Data Orchestrator– The orchestrator collects and publishes sustainability data from a variety of sources, including major ESG data providers, utilities,  common disclosure portal and other sectoral platforms. Data analysis services on the platform will be used to develop new data insights that better support investment and funding decisions. 
• Greenprint ESG Registry– The registry tracks sources of ESG certifications issued by certification bodies in various industries, as well as data and metrics validated by certified external auditors. Blockchain-based registries provide financial institutions, businesses and regulators with a single access point to this validated data, facilitating reliable data flow. 
• Greenprint Marketplace– It connects green technology providers in and around Singapore to a network of investors, venture capital, financial institutions and companies to drive green technology partnerships, innovations and investments. 

Singapore will work with Australia to conclude a Green Economic Agreement (GEA). This collaboration aims to accelerate the transition between the two countries to a  more environmentally friendly and sustainable future. GEA also targets creating jobs and reducing CO2 emissions. The agreement focuses on initiatives to promote trade and investment, with a focus on reducing the regulatory burden on businesses. It also aims to remove non-tariff barriers to trade in environmental goods and services and promote the spread of low-carbon green technologies.

GEA, the first of its kind agreement globally, will deepen bilateral relations through strengthening economic and environmental relations. The overall purpose of the agreement is to set guidelines, standards and initiatives that not only create good jobs in green growth areas, but also create global capacity to address environmental governance and issues. 

MAS will use data from the Greenprint Data Orchestrator and ESG Registry to work on two use case projects to promote green and sustainability-related trade finance in the construction and palm oil industries. This will enable banks to digitize trade and financial transactions and ensure they meet the standards of a green and sustainable financing framework. United Overseas Bank will lead the initiative in collaboration with DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. 

Conclusion

Technology is a key driver for the financial industry to meet the challenges of green transition and achieve net-zero emissions. Project Greenprint gives a sound digital infrastructure foundation that aggregates existing and new ESG data from the ground-up across numerous sectors. The initiative aims to provide solutions for facilitating trusted ESG data flows between our real economy and the financial sector both within Singapore and internationally.