A new public-private initiative aims to help local businesses account for their emissions more accurately. Led by the Singapore Business Federation, NetZeroHub.SG is a digital platform consisting of two components: the Singapore Emission Factors Registry (SEFR) and a resource portal.
Firms commonly use emissions factors — or a reference list of activities and the pre-determined amount of emissions generated — to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions. The SEFR aims to aggregate emissions factors into a single source and expand the suite of emissions factors for use by Singapore businesses.
At present, most Singapore businesses use emissions factors from international sources like the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for their sustainability and carbon emissions reporting.
With SEFR, local firms will no longer have to rely on emissions factors registries from overseas. Instead, they can access over 200 emissions factors that have already been calculated with Singapore in mind.
The SEFR will be the “single source of truth” for Singapore’s emissions factors, says SBF CEO Kok Ping Soon in a media briefing. “It is a database of emissions factors developed based on Singapore’s context, enabling our local businesses to more easily and more accurately track and report their carbon emissions.”
Co-developed with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), the emissions factors cover eight categories: building equipment, building materials, fuel, greenhouse gases, land transport, purchased energy, waste and water. Data was consolidated from four government agencies and the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), with voluntary support from Singtel and PwC Singapore.
See also: SBF, Bain & Co launch SME-focused decarbonisation programme, starting with food manufacturers
In an Oct 4 announcement, SBF says it expects to add new emissions factors for logistics, information and communications technology, cleaning services and security services from 2025.
According to SBF, these are “common activities” across a “large majority” of Singapore businesses. “Availability of these emissions factors is intended to allow businesses to account for their Scope 3 emissions more comprehensively and representatively.”
SBF says it will convene industry consultations to seek feedback on other activity categories, and businesses may also provide their views via www.netzerohub.sg.
See also: Local emissions registry launched to help local businesses in sustainability reporting
In addition to the digital platform, 12 digital solution providers have committed to making SEFR data available on their own platforms so that their Singapore-based users benefit from using Singapore-specific emission factors data.
They include UN Global Compact Network Singapore’s Carbon Emissions Recording Tool (CERT), ESGpedia, the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Gprint and Terrascope’s Terrascope Decarbonisation SaaS Platform.
However, a similar web-based tool by JTC Corporation was not among the 12 partners. Launched in June 2023, the Singapore Building Carbon Calculator was developed by JTC in collaboration with the Building and Construction Authority and SGBC.
Similar to the SEFR, the tool accounts for the upfront carbon of materials used. It was marketed as the first public tool to adapt these emissions factors to reflect Singapore’s context.
SBF says discussions are ongoing with potential partners, including the one by JTC.
Hu Ching, head of the Net Zero Transition Programme office at SBF, says the 12 partners form a “dynamic list”. “We certainly do not want this to be seen as the final list. This is what we have for the time being, and we certainly anticipate that more partner calculators will be joining this.”
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SBF Foundation
The SEFR is supported by the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, Enterprise Singapore and SBF Foundation.
Singtel has pledged a $1 million donation to SBF Foundation’s Corporate Purpose Initiative over the next five years. According to Aileen Tan, Singtel’s group chief people and sustainability officer, Singtel hopes to drive projects like the registry, which will lead to “more informed decision-making” and advance decarbonisation.
In a statement, SBF Foundation CEO Jean Tan calls SEFR a “critical resource”. “Through the SBF Foundation’s Corporate Purpose Initiative (TCPI), which helps SMEs advance their ESG goals, we believe the SEFR will provide the data needed to drive impactful climate action and emission reduction strategies.”
According to Tan, donors to the TCPI also include BinjaiTree, City Developments Limited C09 , DBS Bank, Far East Organisation and RGE Group.
The SEFR is the first initiative being funded from “that pot of money”, says Kok in response to The Edge Singapore, but he declined to comment on other decarbonisation projects in the pipeline. “This is not the platform for me to share the rest of the initiatives, so perhaps when we are ready to talk about the rest of the initiative being funded, we can share more with you.”
SBF's Hu Ching (extreme left) and SBF CEO Kok Ping Soon (second from left) at a media briefing
Resource portal
Aside from the SEFR, NetZeroHub.SG also features a resource portal, which provides articles, case studies, training programmes and solution providers to help businesses decarbonise.
The portal is a joint initiative with Sustainability Alliance (SA), which was founded in October 2022 by Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore and tech industry trade association SGTech.
Lau Shih Hor, co-chair of SA, says the portal will help “time-challenged” SMEs, impact investors and start-ups get started on their decarbonisation journeys. “The resource portal plays a pivotal directory role for smaller private companies to cut through the noise and start on sustainability in a manner that makes business sense.”
The launch comes six months after the registry was announced by Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations Grace Fu on the first day of Temasek's Ecosperity Week 2024 conference.
From FY2025 onwards, all listed companies will be required to report their Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions. They will also have to start incorporating the climate-related requirements issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) into their climate-related disclosures.
Following a consultation earlier this year, Singapore Exchange S68 Regulation (SGX RegCo) announced on Sept 23 that it will review issuers’ experiences and their readiness before establishing the implementation roadmap for reporting Scope 3 emissions. This does not factor in the one-year transition relief for the disclosure of Scope 3 emissions in the IFRS sustainability disclosure standards.
Scope 1 emissions are typically generated by an organisation’s operations, while Scope 2 emissions are largely calculated from a firm’s purchased electricity, heat, steam or cooling.
Meanwhile, there are 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions, split between upstream and downstream categories. They include purchased goods and services, capital goods, franchises, business travel and employee commuting, among others.
Photos: SBF, SGX RegCo, ISCA, Schneider Electric
