Speech by Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat at The Singapore Apex Corporate Sustainability Awards Gala Dinner 2017 on 8 November 2017

Ms Goh Swee Chen

President, Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS)

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

1. Thank you, Global Compact Network Singapore, for inviting me to join you tonight.

1. It is a pleasure to join you to recognise organisations that have shown excellence in sustainability.

2. And also to affirm your mission to forge a network of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practitioners and champions.

3. We all still have much to learn and ways to improve on how we can conduct our lives and our businesses more sustainably.  Efforts of organisations like GCNS are an important contribution to our collective ongoing journey towards sustainability.

Why Sustainability Matters

1. Why should we care about sustainability? It is a matter of survival, and of stewardship.

1. With climate change making itself felt through more extreme weather events, with an impact on water sources, crops, habitable environments and people’s livelihoods, sustainability is a matter of survival for humankind.

1. Sustainability is also about what we leave behind after our time. We have a duty of stewardship to future generations. 

1. Sustainability is also, in fact, very Singaporean.

1. When I reflect on it, it strikes me that our biggest champion of environmental sustainability is probably Mr Lee Kuan Yew.  

Global Concerns and Efforts

1. Today, there is a worldwide call for collective action.

1. The international community has set ambitious goals in the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

1. Last year, the G20 Heads of State for the first time agreed that there was a need to “scale up green finance”.  Several states have taken steps to green their financial systems.

1. Underlying these global efforts is a shared recognition that sustainability is multi-faceted and requires all of us to row together.

1. In Asia:

1. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has made sustainable infrastructure a priority.

1. China is continuing to invest heavily in sustainable development, with the country’s energy agency expecting to invest 2.5 trillion yuan (approximately S$500 billion) into renewable fuel by 2020. In June, the State Council in China announced five pilot zones for green finance, along with five tasks, such as promoting green credits and setting up government service channels for green industries.

1. Our ASEAN neighbours have also initiated their own sustainable development plans.

1. Indonesia has launched a Roadmap for Sustainable Finance, which aims to increase both the demand and supply of sustainable financing products.

1. Thailand’s King Vajiralongkorn is overlooking the construction of a number of reservoirs and water conveyancing systems.

1. Cambodia has developed a National Environment Strategy and Action Plan (NESAP), which identifies policy tools and financing options for sustainable natural resource management.

1. When the ASEAN Environment Ministers met in Brunei two months ago, they reaffirmed their commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development, and presented the 4^th ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable Cities Awards – to recognise city-level environment sustainability.

Singapore’s Contribution to the Global Mission

1. Singapore must seek to do our best and learn from others. We have some strengths, which we can build upon to make a meaningful contribution to the global mission.

1. One area where we can do so is in the sustainable urban solutions space. One of the recommendations by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) is to make Singapore a living lab for innovative urban solutions, and also to be a model city in sustainability. There are very interesting projects happening.

1. For example, the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) aspires to be the greenest campus in the world, aiming for a 35% reduction in energy, water and waste intensity by 2020 (from 2011’s baseline). Their EcoCampus initiative transforms the campus into a test bed for research projects in cutting-edge green technologies. It integrates R&D, demonstration and deployment of sustainable solutions in one location.

1. Terminal 4 opened last week.  It is part of the Changi Airport Living Lab Programme, where Changi Airport Group collaborates with companies to test new innovative solutions, such as automation and robotics, and smart infrastructure management, in a live airport environment.

1. I expect that many exciting solutions will emerge from living labs like these. And I hope to see businesses take up more of such initiatives.

1. The government is committed to this cause too, and can contribute in several ways.

1. First, by aggregating demand.

1. Second, the government can facilitate testing and innovation.

1. A third way we can contribute to the global action is through setting the right policy conditions.

1. Next year, GCNS will partner with Temasek to organise a Sustainability Trade Fair. It will be the first in Asia to showcase ASEAN and Asian SMEs across different industries from the sustainable solutions sector. It will be a good opportunity to learn from others, and I hope it will catalyse much collaboration and sharing of ideas.

Conclusion

1. To conclude, I wish to commend GCNS on the thoughtfulness with which you have framed these awards.

1. The framework for the Sustainable Business category is a rounded way to approach sustainability.

1. And the Clean Technology category looks at the innovativeness of an idea, along with its measurable impact on the industry and how well it can serve the needs of the future.

1. These awards have been framed to appreciate and encourage taking the long term view – that as stewards, we have to assess our actions today not just in terms of whether we are achieving the immediate goals, but in terms of how our action can better protect our environment and strengthen our society in the future, so that we can continue to sustain our progress. 

1. At the end of the day, we pursue sustainable practices not for awards, but out of a sense of conviction and responsibility.  I am glad to see all of you committing to this shared mission, and hope to see businesses lead the way forward. As the former UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon said, “We have only one planet. There is no Plan B because there is no planet B.”

1. Thank you, and I wish you all an enjoyable evening.