Sustainability is a global imperative as we seek to facilitate long-term and meaningful environmental and socio-economic change. It is a key driver of the EU Commission agenda, and also an important focus for the Singapore Government.

EuroCham has embraced the “European Excellence in Sustainability” programme for the year 2023 and we have designed a line-up of activities to position European companies and EuroCham members as leaders in sustainability. The goal of the programme is to showcase how European and Singaporean companies can collaborate in various aspects of sustainability to provide innovative solutions to current problems. EuroCham is working with Accenture as our knowledge partner to develop the framework of this Sustainability programme.

The programme is focused on five topics  – ESG Communications, ESG Investments, Sustainable Maritime & Shipping, Social Sustainability, and Sustainable Business Innovation. 

If you consider your company’s sustainable efforts to be impactful from an environmental, social or governance perspective, if you are able to describe how and provide examples, we welcome you to share your company’s sustainability practices and policies during EuroCham’s monthly sharing sessions and to enter the Sustainability Awards 2023.

Five Focus Pillars

ESG Communications

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting is a big undertaking, but companies are realizing the benefits, encouraged by demands from consumers, regulators and investors. But once all of the reporting work is done, that information needs to be communicated to the different stakeholder groups – from employees, investors, regulators to communities.

This is a tricky task. If companies boast about their strategy or overstate their performance — whether intentionally or accidentally — they run the risk of being labelled a greenwasher, a tag that could bring financial and regulatory consequences along with lost trust among stakeholders. Stay too quiet — also called greenhushing — and companies can appear ambivalent about ESG issues.

This pillar focuses on

  • Crafting ESG transformation narratives and value stories
  • Creating effective ESG Communication strategies
  • Communicating with consistency
  • Embracing end-to-end transparency
  • Embedding ESG as part of business operations and daily common practices
  • Reporting on metrics in compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards

 

ESG Investments

t’s now widely recognized that non-financial factors can inform investors about business performance – from internalizing appropriate externalities, articulating quantifiable ESG-related risk impact on business, to funding the right sustainability-led business initiatives and behaviours. And so, there’s growing interest in the significance of ESG topics in the investment world.

Also, businesses today are impacted by climate change, disrupting operations and supply chains. More notably, climate change also affects markets and demands. As a result, markets are adapting to climate change and every business has to respond to it. Otherwise, it becomes both an operational and commercial risk.

ESG investing is a form of sustainable investing that considers environmental, social and governance factors to judge an investment’s financial returns and its overall impact. 

Sustainable investing ensures companies are not just prioritizing profit over everything, but considering how their operations affect the environment and society. This pillar focuses on 

  • Utilisation of carbon credits and carbon offsets 
  • ESG Funds
  • ESG risk-adjusted returns and performance

Sustainable Maritime & Shipping

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) targets to reduce the carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40% by 2030 and reduce the total annual greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by at least 50% by 2050. However, given the supply chain disruptions globally, it is more necessary now than ever to invest in maritime supply chains to boost sustainability and resilience. Ports, shipping fleets and hinterland connections need to be better prepared for future global crises, climate change and the transition to low-carbon energy. There is a need to 

  • Accelerate the deployment of scalable low-carbon technologies across the maritime ecosystem 
  • Lower the adoption barriers for low-/zero-carbon fuels and technologies 
  • Green certification and adherence to local regulatory frameworks
  • Digital transformation required for greater transparency and insights around the operating environment and risk exposure – steering towards a truly resilient and sustainable global supply chains 

 

 

 

 

 

Social Sustainability

Social Sustainability and Inclusion focuses on the need to “put people first” in development processes. It promotes social inclusion of the poor and vulnerable by empowering people, building cohesive and resilient societies, and making institutions accessible and accountable to citizens.

This pillar focuses on a company’s relationships and engagement with its stakeholders. Directly or indirectly, companies affect what happens to employees, workers in the value chain, customers and local communities, and it is important to manage impacts proactively. The social dimension of corporate responsibility includes

  • Investing in projects highlighting issues of labour, women’s empowerment and gender equality, children, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities
  • People-centred approaches to business impacts on poverty
  • Access to education and health
  • Empower marginalized and disadvantaged communities through capability building – across topics such as digital literacy, business & economics fundamentals etc.

 

Sustainable Business Innovation

Being sustainable for organisations has become about combining environmental, societal, and financial priorities to re-imagine their core business models and even shifting the boundaries of competition. The ways in which businesses can become more sustainable range from making small changes and substitutions to leading-edge research and development into inventive solutions. Business needs to give greater considerations around enabling, accelerating and scaling sustainable outcomes, by: 

  • Anchor innovation on value – across both shareholder and stakeholder value creation 
  • Deconstructing their products and services
  • Reimagining current business processes
  • Focusing on people
  • Using data and digital technology for continuous improvement
  • Foster transformative and innovative partnerships with ecosystem players 

 

 

 

 

Two Activity Pillars

Sharing Sessions

Read more

Sustainability Awards

More info to follow

Sustainability Whitebook 2022-2023