The Secretariat of the Climate Data Steering Committee, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Singapore Exchange (SGX Group) have signed a MoU to collaborate on strengthening access by stakeholders around the world to key climate transition-related data. 

Launched by French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions Michael R. Bloomberg, the CDSC brings together global regulators, policymakers, and civil society organisations to advise on the key data needed to support and accelerate the global net zero transition.

The CDSC-MAS-SGX collaboration will aim to synergise across MAS Project Greenprint’s ESGenome disclosure portal and the CDSC’s Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU) global repository of climate transition-related data.  It will allow companies that report into ESGenome to transmit to the NZDPU their data on Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This will help enhance the tracking of these companies’ climate commitments, and the companies will in turn benefit from access to the NZDPU’s global database to inform their own decarbonisation efforts. Work on the collaboration will commence in the first quarter of 2024.

Launched by MAS in 2020, Project Greenprint  is a digital platform which aims to help mobilise capital to sustainable projects, monitor climate commitments, and measure the impact associated with green and transition investments. To do this, MAS works with the private sector to co-develop digital utilities that streamline the collection, access and use of climate and sustainability data. As part of Project Greenprint, MAS partnered with SGX Group to launch ESGenome, a digital portal for sustainability reporting available to SGX-listed entities. Work is underway to extend ESGenome’s capabilities to support disclosures by the broader corporate universe, notably small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

See related article: UNDP, GLEIF and MAS Team to Digitise Basic ESG Credentials for MSMEs

Following the recommendations of the CDSC, the NZDPU is designed to be part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and aims to address the problems of inadequate access to and inconsistent reporting of climate transition-related data. Supported by Mike Bloomberg, the NZDPU is being built as an open and trusted central source of verifiable climate transition-related data, for organisations and governments around the world to track climate progress. Now in its first phase of development, the NZDPU will aggregate information on companies’ Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions, and non-financial corporate emissions reduction targets, with further metrics to be added over time.

There are strong synergies between the NZDPU and Project Greenprint’s ESGenome disclosure portal. Once access to the NZDPU is established, companies that disclose their GHG emissions data to ESGenome may consent for this information to be transmitted seamlessly to the NZDPU, for immediate uploading to its global repository. 

• This information will be made available by the NZDPU to the public at no charge. Companies opting to share this information would be affirming their climate transition commitments at the global level, supporting greater transparency and accountability of net zero data, and strengthening their credibility amongst peers and investors.
• In the future, ESGenome will work towards enabling its users to access NZDPU data via the ESGenome interface, transmit more varied information to the NZDPU, and benchmark their firms’ progress against global and regional data.

Ms Mary Schapiro, Chair of the CDSC, said, “Collaboration is critical to achieving the goal of creating a unified source of global emissions data through the NZDPU that will drive the transparency and accountability needed for the net-zero transition. We celebrate this ground-breaking commitment by the MAS and SGX Group to provide foundational climate transition-related data and hope it is the first of many partnerships that will help accelerate climate action across the globe.” 

Mr Ravi Menon, Managing Director, MAS, said, “The ability of firms to access reliable data on carbon emissions and disclose relevant climate-related information is critical for transition financing and decarbonisation efforts. This requires synergy and inter-operability across various climate-related data platforms in the world.  The collaboration between NZDPU and Project Greenprint’s ESGenome disclosure portal will help harmonise climate-related corporate disclosures from the ASEAN region with the NZDPU’s global template for key climate data.” 

Mr Loh Boon Chye, Chief Executive Officer, SGX Group, said, “This collaboration by CDSC, MAS and SGX Group to harmonise and scale climate disclosures globally is a significant step in facilitating allocation of public and private capital towards financing climate transition. Consistent and comparable sustainability data, that is easily accessible, is what companies and investors need for benchmarking and investment decision-making. ESGenome launched with a pioneer batch of our listed companies last year and we will work closely with all the stakeholders to scale this initiative.”