Symposium on Futures Sustainability 2024
On 2 March 2024, the Bachelor of Environmental Studies (BES) hosted the annual Symposium on Futures Sustainability (SFS) at the Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium with support from the Rotary Club of Suntec City. The theme for this year’s SFS was Green Finance, which provided students with the opportunity to hear from industry professionals and gain an understanding of how green investments will look like in the future and how this new sector can be expanded. The panel offered insights into challenges that organisations commonly encounter, such as the absence of a holistic environmental impact assessment or insufficient transparency in disclosing green financial products’ performance. The speakers from KPMG, Colchester Global Investors, HSBC, Bain & Company, and Abrdn shared their ideas and experiences on the challenges posed by these issues and the ways in which they can be tackled.
With the recent surge in climate awareness, businesses and organisations have been emphasising sustainability within their respective domains. Green finance has therefore been widely adopted, ensuring that their strategies prioritise environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria. This year’s SFS delves into the theme of Green Finance to better understand this rapidly growing sector that is integral to achieving long-term value creation and encouraging responsible investing. The panel dialogue’s main aim was to reflect upon how green investments will look like in the future and how we can expand this new sector, in the context of Singapore. This would in turn spark conversations on how companies are incorporating and adapting to green finance, whilst ensuring that all three ESG criteria are being met.
