Singapore corporates need to get serious about sustainability

TEMASEK Holdings chief executive officer (CEO) Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara recently said he sees huge opportunities across sectors such as food, water, waste, energy, materials, clean transportation and urban development in the coming years. Having committed to deliver a net-zero emissions portfolio by 2050, with a mid-term target of 25 per cent reduction in carbon footprint by 2030 - and having achieved carbon neutrality themselves as a company - it seems clear that the investor is serious about sustainability.

And it is not alone. Over 2,000 investors globally, with assets under management (AUM) of over US$80 trillion, have signed the Principles for Responsible Investing (PRI), with the number growing rapidly year on year.

So what does this mean for companies that are going to see this as a mandate in their pursuit of generating profitable returns in a sustainable way?