LibGuides: Sustainability &amp; ESG: ESG

ESG and SDGs

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.
There is however no global definition, framework and metrics for ESG.

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.

from: SGX's Investor guide to reading sustainability report

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.
Environmental	Social	Governance

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

ESG Reporting

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:

Material ESG factors
Policies, practices and performance
Targets
Sustainability reporting framework
Board statement and associated governance structure for sustainability practices

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.

Company annual reports and sustainability reports

SGX's proposed 27 core ESG

Disclosure standards

Disclosure framework

Fixed income

Singapore Standards

Support Sustainable Business Practices

Tools and resources

Environmental

Carbon mitigation

World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Carbon Mitigation Hierarchies

Carbon accounting standard

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol

Net-zero targets initiative

Singapore

	Building and Construction Authority (BCA) - Green Mark
	Singapore Environment Council - Singapore Green Labelling, Eco-Office, Eco-Shop, Eco F&B, Eco Manufacturing, SEC Eco-Events

Societal norms and norms-based standards

Singapore

Governance

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) - Code of Corporate Governance, Practice Guidance

Sustainability reports of ASRA award 2023 finalists

Large Company
City Developments Ltd

Private Company

YTI PowerSeraya

SME
LHT Holdings

Public sector

Metropolitan Electricity Authority (Thailand)

GovernanceKeppel Corporation Ltd

CEO letter
Prudential Assurance Company Singapore

Human rightsApril International Enterprise

Green and Sustainable Finance

Green FinTech

SGX Sustainability indices offers a suite of sustainability-related indices by 2 index providers:

SGX Index Edge (iEdge): iEdge SG ESG Leaders Index, iEdge SG ESG Transparency Index, iEdge-OCBC Singapore Low Carbon Select 50 Capped Index, iEdge-UOB APAC Yield Focus Green REIT Index …
Scientific Beta: Scientific Beta Climate Impact Consistent (CIC) Index, Scientific Beta Climate Impact Consistent (CIC) Index, Scientific Beta Core ESG Cap-Weighted Index ...

ESG Indicator and Rating

World Bank Sovereign ESG Data Portal

71 ESG indicators over 61 years and across 217 economies

Morningstar Sustainalytics

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)