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The 2021 Dentons Rodyk Dialogue – a partnership between SMU and law firm Dentons Rodyk – saw faculty members and industry experts discuss issues surrounding corporate sustainability, green finance and innovation. One of the speakers, SMU Professor of Finance (Practice) Dave Fernandez, said current metrics for environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings are limited, and academics and practitioners have been studying alternative ways to measure the impacts.  Prof Fernandez, who is the Director of SMU's Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, said SMU and the Singapore Green Finance Centre have been focusing on an ESG impact measurement framework, which he said is more consistent and complete in measuring the outcomes and actual changes achieved by a company.

Businesses must adopt environment, social-centric practices or risk falling behind: Grace Fu

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Singapore launched its chapter of the global Climate Governance Initiative on Thursday (Oct 28), in a move to bring discussions on climate change into boardrooms. Climate Governance Singapore, which was unveiled by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu, aims to help board members play an informed role in boardroom discussions and make decisions on the risks and opportunities associated with climate change.

To help businesses weather climate change and accelerate transition to a climate-sustainable model, an initiative has been rolled out to help their boards of directors better understand the issues for decision making. The Singapore chapter of the Climate Governance Initiative was launched on Thursday (Oct 28) at SMU in a hybrid event attended by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu. Climate Governance Singapore (CGS) and SMU signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Oct 28. Under the MOU, SMU will act as CGS' knowledge partner to curate and manage research materials, deliver training programmes and organise events.

Rajiv Lall, Professorial Research Fellow at the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, who also serves on the Management Committee of the Singapore Green Finance Centre, has been appointed to the newly formed BrightNight India Advisory Council. He has over three decades of experience in academia, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, international investment banks, and private equity, working in South East Asia, China, Africa, the US, and India. His expertise spans infrastructure finance, sustainable and impact investing, capital markets, trade, and macroeconomic policy issues.

According to a recent study by DBS and the SMU Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics (SKBI), Singaporeans' overall inflation expectations in the next one year has increased to 3.1%. The latest DBS-SMU SKBI Singapore Index of Inflation Expectations (SInDEx) Survey found that this is higher than overall projection reported in June, which was at 2.7%. SMU Assistant Professor of Finance and founding Principal Investigator of the DBS-SKBI SInDEx Project, Aurobindo Ghosh highlighted, “Responding to global cues like the energy shortages in China, pandemic induced global supply chain disruption including chip shortages and cyclical increase in energy and commodity prices, One-Year-Ahead inflation expectations among Singaporeans increased both in an aggregate sense and for major components like food, transportation, housing & utilities, and healthcare, among others.”

“A significant number of Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)-endorsed hedge funds indulge in greenwashing when they fail to deliver the impact they are meant to create,” said Hao Liang, Associate Professor of Finance at Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Lee Kong Chian School of Business, in a recent working paper titled “Greenwashing: Evidence from Hedge Funds”.

How can investors avoid getting greenwashed? What is the role of the Singapore Green Finance Centre in combating issues of greenwashing? How does the practice of greenwashing affect impact investments?

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