(Solar Farms built on top of Singapore’s public housing (Photo Credit : Sunseap, an investee company of ABC World Asia)
Impact investing has enabled a new pathway of sustainable philanthropy as more global investments are now being directed towards long-term goals that generate positive social and environmental impact alongside financial returns.
Temasek Trust has worked in recent years to enable impact investing as an innovative pathway to do good in Asia. We launched our maiden impact fund and fund manager, ABC World Asia, in 2019 to pave the way for the impact investing movement in our region. The fund was made possible with the support and investment from Temasek and Pavilion Capital, as well as other founding investors Mapletree Investments, Seatown Holdings, Sembcorp Industries, and SP Group.
We are heartened that ABC World Asia’s inaugural Impact Report has been published in March 2021. The Report shares their remarkable progress towards driving meaningful change in 5 key areas in Asia: Climate and Water Solutions, Better Healthcare and Education, Sustainable Food and Agriculture, Financial and Digital Inclusion, as well as Smart and Liveable Cities. In 2020, ABC World Asia deployed close to S$100 million to companies in the above focused sectors in Asia Pacific.Some examples of ABC World Asia’s portfolio impact include more than one million metric tons of CO2 emissions avoided, approximately 460,000 people and microenterprises provided with access to credit and financial services, and over 1.5 million smallholder farmers provided with customised farming advice and information.The growth we have witnessed in impact solutions across their portfolio and the business opportunities generated are very encouraging.
You may wish to read ABC World Asia’s Impact Report here.
ABC World Asia’s investments have provided Temasek Trust with important insights into the practical challenges faced by those keen to embark on impact evaluation and management.
As part of its effort to contribute towards field building and standard settings, Temasek Trust joined UNDP SDG Impact’s global steering group in 2019 and has recently announced on 12th May 2021 a deeper collaboration with UNDP SDG Impact. SDG Impact is UNDP’s flagship initiative to establish global practice standards for SDG-enabling investment and provide investors and businesses with tools that would help them identify areas of need and make targeted investments. The SDG Impact Standards aim to bridge the gap between current industry practices and a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future.
Temasek Trust is SDG Impact’s anchor partner in Asia, to support the aims of driving awareness, adoption and application of SDG Impact standards and tools in the region in a way that is useful and relevant to the Asian context. Temasek Trust’s collaboration with UNDP SDG Impact will enable the development of SDG Investor Maps that will provide a rich inventory of impact business models and investment opportunity areas that align with the SDGs in ASEAN countries. Temasek Trust will also partner SDG Impact in launching the new UNDP SDG Impact Standards and rolling out training and technical assistance to funds, firms and governments interested in applying the Standards in the ASEAN region.
We look forward to our continued work with ABC World Asia and UNDP SDG Impact in the months ahead. It is our hope that our collaborative efforts will advance impact investing as an effective lever for sustainable development in Asia.
To read the press release, please refer to the link given below:
https://www.temasektrust.org.sg/pdf/Temasek-Trust-Press-Release_120521_Final.aspx
ABC world: Asia World Report 2020. (2021). Retrieved March 18, 2021, from https://www.abcworld.com.sg/impactreport2020/
