The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today launched the ESG Impact Hub (the Hub) to spur co-location and collaboration between Environment, Social, Governance (ESG) FinTech start-ups and solution providers, financial institutions and real economy stakeholders. The Hub will also anchor industry-driven sustainability initiatives such the Point Carbon Zero Programme [1] and KPMG's ESG Business Foundry [2] . Located at The Great Room at Afro-Asia [3] , the launch was officiated by Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS.
2. The establishment of the Hub seeks to capitalise on the strong industry interest in Project Greenprint [4] and expedite the growth of Singapore’s ESG ecosystem on three fronts:
Growing ESG FinTechs: The Hub will facilitate the discovery, scaling and deployment of technology solutions to address ESG needs of corporates and financial institutions, notably in terms of accurate measurement, reporting and verification of climate and sustainability data.
Anchoring ESG Enablers: MAS will engage knowledge partners, financial institutions and investors to organise key ESG initiatives out of the Hub, such as ESG FinTech accelerator programmes, training and capacity-building workshops, and thought leadership events.
Supporting ESG Stakeholders: MAS will engage the Hub community to deploy its programmes and solutions to drive material, quantifiable impacts that support sectoral transition efforts, with particular emphasis on the eight focus sectors identified by the Green Finance Industry Taskforce (GFIT).
3. At the time of launch, 15 ESG FinTechs and organisations are already set up at the Hub [5] . MAS will continue to engage key stakeholders in building the Hub’s onsite community, and fostering partnerships to enhance financial sector access to high quality climate and sustainability data, to support more efficient deployment of capital towards green and sustainable projects.
4. Dr Darian McBain, Chief Sustainability Officer, MAS, said, “The establishment of the ESG Impact Hub is a critical milestone in Project Greenprint’s journey to build a vibrant and robust ESG ecosystem in Singapore, underpinned by technology and data. This physical Hub will augment MAS’ plans to launch a digital Greenprint Marketplace next year to catalyse the growth of the region’s online ESG community; and will serve as the launchpad for public-private partnerships that support Asia’s just and sustainable transition to a low carbon economy.”
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[1] Please refer to MAS’ and Google Cloud’s media release for more information on the Point Carbon Zero Programme.
[2] The ESG Business Foundry is a 6-month accelerator programme specially designed for scaling ESG FinTechs. These firms will undergo an accelerated growth journey through a 5-Foundry-Services framework encompassing Ecosystem, Capability & Capacity, Distribution, Financing, and Structuring modules. The accelerator will inter alia expand Singapore’s ESG FinTech ecosystem by being an importer of fast growth ESG FinTechs intending to establish a presence in Singapore and the Asia Pacific.
[3] Afro Asia, located at 63 Robinson Road, is a BCA Green Mark Platinum and LEED Platinum-certified building. See Annex A for further information on The Great Room.
[4] Project Greenprint is a collection of initiatives that aims to harness technology and data to enable a more transparent, trusted and efficient ESG ecosystem to enable green and sustainable finance. Please refer to MAS’ media release on Project Greenprint.
[5] See Annex C for a full list of Hub members as of end September 2022.
