Finance for Net Zero

Over the past year, MAS has worked with the industry and other partners on key sustainability initiatives, building on the refreshed Finance for Net Zero (FiNZ) Action Plan launched in April 2023. The FiNZ Action Plan expands the scope of MAS’ Green Finance Action Plan launched in 2019 to include transition finance, which is vital for funding the necessary infrastructure and technology required to decarbonise the economy. Key initiatives in 2023/2024 include: 

• Climate-Resilient Financial Sector: Issued a set of consultation papers proposing Guidelines on Transition Planning by banks, insurers and asset managers.
• Data, Definitions & Disclosures: Published the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy, the first taxonomy globally to pioneer the concept of a “transition” category; and published the Singapore Code of Conduct for ESG Rating and Data Product Providers (the “Code”), with an accompanying checklist for providers to self-attest their adoption of the Code. 
• Green & Transition Solutions and Markets: Launched the Transition Credits Coalition (TRACTION) to scale transition credits and launched Financing Asia’s Transition – Partnership (FAST-P), a blended finance initiative that aims to mobilise up to US$5 billion to de-risk and finance transition and marginally bankable green projects in Asia.
• Green FinTech: Launched Gprnt (pronounced “Greenprint”), an integrated digital platform that automates and streamlines the collection of ESG data to enable basic climate-related reporting by businesses in a simple and efficient manner.
• Skills and Capabilities: Launched the Sustainable Finance Jobs Transformation Map (SF JTM), which lays out the impact of sustainability trends on jobs in Singapore’s financial services sector and the emerging skills that the workforce will require to serve sustainable financing demand in the region.

Within the organisation, MAS continues to actively pursue sustainability in its operations by implementing various initiatives to reduce its carbon footprint. MAS completed a net zero building feasibility study for MAS Building and Currency House to achieve net zero carbon emissions for its buildings’ operations by 2045. MAS incorporates environmental sustainability criteria in the evaluation of large tenders and has implemented initiatives such as a carbon budget for air travel, encouraging the use of “Fit-for-Gifting” currency notes for festive gifting, and issuing Second Series coins alongside the regular issuance of Third series coins to further reduce MAS’ Scope 3 carbon emissions.

As the guardian of Singapore’s Official Foreign Reserves (OFR), MAS will continue to strengthen the climate resilience of the reserves through a range of portfolio actions. In 2024, MAS will update the analysis of climate scenarios which inform on the potential long-term impact on portfolio risks and returns due to climate change. MAS will also extend the Climate Transition Programme to the corporate bonds portfolio, incorporating insights gained from implementing equities climate indices. 

Download FiNZ Action Plan Infographic (2.62 MB)