The Sustainability Innovation Programme 2024, launched by UOB FinLab, recently concluded its five-week journey, providing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with invaluable guidance on transforming their businesses into sustainable and green entities. Centred around three key pillars — Develop, Disclose, and Decarbonise — the programme equipped participants with the knowledge to integrate sustainability into their business models, while fostering growth, profitability, and environmental stewardship.
The programme commenced with a compelling panel discussion moderated by Samuel Tan, Vice President of ESG Solutions at UOB’s Sector Solutions Group.
The panellists explored the current state of sustainability implementation among Singaporean SMEs, examining the pace of adoption, key challenges, and practical solutions. They also highlighted emerging sustainability trends and provided valuable advice for SMEs embarking on or enhancing their sustainability journey.
During this session, Yina Chua emphasised the importance of understanding double materiality, highlighting that ESG reporting and carbon disclosure are becoming increasingly essential due to evolving regulatory requirement. Moreover, Samuel Tan discussed the challenges businesses face in disclosing their sustainability efforts and the need for effective tools such as the UOB Sustainability Compass to guide them.
Francesca Puricelli from the UNDP Global Centre shared her expertise on ESG reporting, focusing on the crucial metrics for disclosure and strategies to navigate the challenges of maintaining ESG transparency. She underscored the need to build robust frameworks for sustainability reporting to meet stakeholder expectations.
Joel Low and Stephen Ow from Gprnt further enriched this session by demonstrating the capabilities of the Gprnt platform, gprnt.ai. They guided participants through the process of utilising the platform for effective sustainability data disclosure, showcasing how businesses can leverage this industry-approved tool to streamline their reporting practices and enhance their ESG credibility.
The fourth session centred on the journey towards net-zero emissions and the various incentives available to support businesses in their decarbonisation efforts. Yina Chua emphasised the importance of prioritising ESG factors, particularly for SMEs looking to achieve Net Zero and Carbon Neutrality. Arthur Lim from SunCaged Consulting complemented this discussion by highlighting various government grants and programs, such as the Enterprise Development Grant and the Energy Efficiency Grant, that are available to aid businesses in their sustainability efforts.
The final session of the Disclose Pillar highlighted practical tools for decarbonisation and ESG data disclosure, concluding with Will Leong’s summary of government grants, training programs, and energy efficiency initiatives.
It has been almost a year since the team at UOB FinLab culminated its GreenTech Accelerator 2024 (GTA). We decided to check in with one of the GreenTech participants and see the progress that is being made.
UOB FinLab AI Ready Programme empowers SMEs to adopt and scale AI, with hands-on support from AI Singapore, IMDA, and Microsoft.
Nearly a year has passed since UOB FinLab concluded its GreenTech Accelerator 2024 (GTA), and we’ve followed up with one of the participating GreenTech companies to see how things have progressed.
Senior Lecturer, Ngee Ann Polytechnic
Melvin Gan is a senior lecturer at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Business and Accountancy, where he specialises in sustainability in business management, ESG reporting, digital marketing, consumer insights, and human-centered design thinking. A founding member of the Sustainability Module Team, he has been instrumental in developing specialised curricula such as Corporate Governance and Reporting for Sustainable Business and has contributed to the growth of the Business Sustainability and Digitalisation specialisation.
Consultant & Trainer, CSO Centre
Joyce was former Commercial Director at Climate Impact Exchange (CIX), a global carbon solutions provider established by Temasek Holdings, Singapore Exchange, DBS Bank & Standard Chartered in Singapore. She was hired as part of the founding team and represented CIX in multiple public forums on decarbonisation, market development and green finance.
Joyce has close to 20 years of experience in the financial industry. She has helmed leadership roles at Singapore Exchange, Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse across various business and operation units. At CIX, she worked with C-Suites, NGOs and financiers on decarbonisation solutions, global carbon market development, as well as alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for long term impact and business resilience.
Consultant & Trainer, CSO Centre
Lance is an FSA Credential Holder and GRI Certified Sustainability Professional. Throughout his corporate career, he has worked at JPMorgan, Citibank and Singapore Exchange. As a marketing and corporate communications consultant, his clients have included DBS, Singtel, UOB, Bank of Singapore as well as many other government organisations, SMEs and startups.
He currently specializes in helping corporates with ESG and sustainability reporting as a trainer and consultant. His courses have been taken by individuals and companies from all over the world and accredited by the Institute of Banking & Finance (Singapore). He is also an associate lecturer with Ngee Ann Polytechnic for various sustainability-related courses.
Designed for business owners to enhance their digital capabilities through practical learning, this programme takes businesses to the next level.
Designed for business owners to enhance their digital capabilities through practical learning, this programme takes businesses to the next level.
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