MAS and SGX Group to collaborate with Climate Data Steering Committee to strengthen global access to climate transition-related data

28 July 2023

On 27 June 2023, the Secretariat of the Climate Data Steering Committee (“CDSC”), Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) and Singapore Exchange (“SGX Group”) announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on strengthening access by stakeholders around the world to key climate transition-related data.

The CDSC-MAS-SGX collaboration will aim to synergise across MAS Project Greenprint’s ESGenome disclosure portal and the CDSC’s Net-Zero Data Public Utility (“NZDPU”) global repository of climate transition-related data. It will allow companies that report into ESGenome to transmit to NZDPU their data on Scope 1, 2 and 3 greenhouse gas (“GHG”) emissions. This will help enhance the tracking of these companies’ climate commitments, and the companies will in turn benefit from access to NZDPU’s global database to inform their own decarbonisation efforts. Work on the collaboration will commence in the first quarter of 2024.

As part of Project Greenprint, MAS partnered with SGX Group to launch ESGenome, a digital portal for sustainability reporting available to SGX-listed entities. Work is underway to extend ESGenome’s capabilities to support disclosures by the broader corporate universe.

NZDPU is designed to be part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and aims to address the problems of inadequate access to and inconsistent reporting of climate transition-related data. NZDPU is being built as an open and trusted central source of verifiable climate transition-related data, for organisations and governments around the world to track climate progress. Currently in its first phase of development, NZDPU will aggregate information on companies’ Scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions, and non-financial corporate emissions reduction targets, with further metrics to be added over time.

Once access to NZDPU is established, companies that disclose their GHG emissions data to ESGenome may consent for this information to be transmitted seamlessly to the NZDPU, for immediate uploading to its global repository. NZDPU will make available this information to the public at no charge. Companies opting to share this information would be affirming their climate transition commitments at the global level, supporting greater transparency and accountability of net zero data, and strengthening their credibility among peers and investors.

Moving forward, ESGenome will work towards enabling its users to access NZDPU data via the ESGenome interface, transmit more varied information to the NZDPU, and benchmark their firms’ progress against global and regional data.