Three in four S-Reits surveyed are preparing for sustainability assurance readiness: PwC Singapore

[SINGAPORE] A study by PwC Singapore on Monday (Jun 29) said three in four Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) surveyed are preparing for a sustainability assurance readiness assessment.

This signals that the need to strengthen data quality, processes and controls, ahead of future assurance requirements, is increasingly recognised in the sector.

Sustainability assurance readiness is the state where an organisation’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, internal controls, and reporting processes are sufficient to pass an independent, third-party audit.

It could involve an internal test or “dry run” to identify data gaps, prior to official regulatory or public scrutiny.

The responses of 20 S-Reits were collected between Aug 14, 2025, and Oct 1, 2025 for the report.These S-Reits account for 48 per cent of the sector’s total assets under management of S$201 billion as at March 2026.

S-Reits are required to report their Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by FY2025, though the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra) and SGX RegCo have extended the timeline for mandatory external limited assurance to FY2029.

“(This suggests) that regulators acknowledge the complexities involved (in the process) – to provide companies with the opportunity to enhance their assurance processes,” said the survey.

Data collection and reporting progress

Data from PwC Singapore indicated that three-quarters of S-Reits surveyed have moved beyond manual processes in data management.

In particular, half of them use ESG-specific systems for sustainability data collection and reporting, while a further 25 per cent of them use generic platforms.

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Additionally, 90 per cent of S-Reits are able to complete data collection and reporting within four months of the financial year-end, in line with SGX RegCo requirements.

Nupur Joshi, chief executive officer at the Reit Association of Singapore, said: “S-Reits that build robust assurance capabilities now are not just preparing for regulatory requirements, they are also signalling to global capital markets that their disclosures can be trusted, which is an increasingly important competitive consideration.”

Assurance adoption remains in early stages

That said, the report also noted that sustainability assurance adoption is still a work in progress for many S-Reits.

The 15 per cent of S-Reits that have obtained external assurance over sustainability reporting-related information is broadly in line with the 17 per cent recorded across Singapore businesses in PwC Singapore’s Trust in transition report.

However, this figure is lower than the 57 per cent external assurance rate reported among STI constituents.

A further quarter of the S-Reits surveyed plan to obtain external assurance, suggesting a pipeline of adoption is forming as the sector prepares for future assurance requirements, according to PwC Singapore.

The study noted that 55 per cent of S-Reits at present rely on outsourced internal audit for sustainability reporting reviews, while an additional 35 per cent have in-house functions.

Meanwhile, 85 per cent of S-Reits engage their finance teams either minimally or not at all in sustainability reporting – reflecting lean operating structures within the sector.

Nearly three-quarters of the S-Reits surveyed were also neutral or disagreed that existing programmes adequately met their needs, pointing to strong interest in more tailored and assurance-focused capability building.

This is particularly evident for S-Reits with international portfolios, said PwC Singapore, where sustainability reporting data requirements may vary by jurisdiction, asset type and other considerations.