Singapore SMEs to get more targeted help to go green in next 5 years

Around 1,000 small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) here will get targeted, sector-specific help to go green in the next five years. They will also get to use an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps them assess their carbon emissions since many small firms do not have a dedicated sustainability officer to generate such reports for them.

- Sue-Ann Tan

Called the SME sectoral net zero transition programme, the initiative will also match companies with partners for funding and provide them with green solutions that meet their needs.

The programme was announced by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat at the UN Global Compact Network Singapore Summit on Oct 3. It is a joint effort by the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) and leading management consulting firm Bain & Co.

They have already conducted a pilot project with 21 food manufacturers from July to August and helped 80 per cent of them to establish their emissions baselines for the first time.

Mr Chee, who is also Second Minister for Finance, said: "I am heartened to hear of the pilot's success and we are now going to expand this to support more SMEs in food manufacturing, and later on to scale up to other sectors."

He noted that a new survey by the SBF and Bain found that SMEs further along in their decarbonisation journeys were 1 1/2 to two times more likely to realise benefits, from achieving cost savings to attracting new customers.

For example, People Bee Hoon Factory was able to reduce electricity costs by 30 per cent by installing solar panels, Mr Chee said. The company also optimised its washing process and used thinner packaging material, resulting in a 50 per cent reduction in water consumption.