Singapore can support emerging market companies in their ESG ambitions

THE demand for sustainability that has swept advanced economies is now in full force in emerging markets. Businesses in these fast-growing countries are finding that mere pledges to be greener, more socially responsible and better governed are not enough to satisfy myriad stakeholders and ultimately stay in business.

Meeting the ESG requirements of consumers and the companies they supply is becoming essential for businesses in emerging markets. Environmental regulations in the developed economies of Europe and North America that they export to are tightening.

Steel producers in South-east Asia, for example, are building electric arc furnaces to make their operations greener, which is also helping to shield their European buyers from paying new tariffs on high-carbon imports.