Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a set of non-financial criteria for assessing the corporations’ impact and initiatives towards being socially responsible, such as "eco-friendly”, “social value” and “ethical behaviour”. The term ESG was first used in early 20s and has since become a corporate social responsibility movement in private/public and financial/non-financial sectors worldwide.
Environmental factors include climate change, pollution, water scarcity, use of non-renewable resources, disposal of waste and loss of biodiversity. Social issues cover social relationships focusing on human rights, worker’s rights, workplace policies, employee wellness and training, wages, DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and corruption. Governance issues involves oversight of ESG issues, how stakeholder interests are balanced at the Board level and traditional corporate governance. |
Mapping of ESG to UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) While ESG is a rating system used by corporations to measure their environmental, social and governance credentials, 17 SDGs are global goals set out by the United Nations. |
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Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG): overview and framework, by Corporate Finance Institute, 2:26min |
How ESG creates value by McKinsey & Company, 1:55min |
ESG: It's a green world after all, by Bank of Singapore, 2:53min |
One-minute expert: Sustainability reporting, by Jonas Andre, Corporate Responsibility Director, Volvo Group, 1min |
All SGX-listed entities in Singapore have to submit an annual sustainability report and complete climate reporting to Singapore Exchange (SGX). The report should describe sustainability practices in 5 primary components:
Issuers can decide on their report standards and framework taking into account their industry, business model and stakeholders. For climate-related disclosures, they must adhere to Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations.
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SGX's proposed 27 core ESG | ||
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Sustainability reports of ASRA award 2023 finalists | |||||
Large Company |
SME |
Public sector |
GovernanceKeppel Corporation Ltd |
CEO letter |
Human rightsApril International Enterprise |
SGX Sustainability indices offers a suite of sustainability-related indices by 2 index providers:
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World Bank Sovereign ESG Data Portal 71 ESG indicators over 61 years and across 217 economies |
Analyst-based ESG risk ratings for 16,000 companies worldwide |
The Singapore Governance and Transparency Index (SGTI) Index for assessing corporate governance practices of Singapore-listed companies, by CPA Australia, NUS Business School’s Centre for Governance and Sustainability, and Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) |
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