What sustainability is, and how you can make an impact

Climate vouchers are part of Singapore's efforts to promote sustainable living and the Climate Voucher 2024 initiative has expanded its reach. The voucher quantum has increased from S$225 to S$300, and all HDB households in Singapore are now eligible. 

More than ever before, we’re becoming hyper-aware of our everyday decisions and their environmental, economic, and social impact if they are plaguing our planet. And with that awareness, the sustainability movement efforts to slow down and rectify environmental damage have entered the mainstream.

From climate vouchers to sustainable investing, we list out how you can effectively and significantly contribute to sustainability in Singapore and beyond. There's more to it than a S$300 voucher, read on!

Understanding the Climate Voucher 2024 initiative

The Climate Voucher 2024 is an initiative by the Singapore government, offering S$300 worth of vouchers to every HDB household. Vouchers are valid from 15 April 2024 to 31 December 2027.

Designed to help you reduce your carbon footprint and utility bills, this programme aims to promote the adoption of energy- and water-efficient practices among Singaporeans. This serves as a great tool for citizens to align with their sustainable values.

Being part of the enhanced Climate Friendly Households Programme, these vouchers can be used to purchase a wide range of energy- and water-efficient products from participating retailers, including refrigerators, LED lights, air-conditioners, washing machines, and more. Our daily choices do make a difference.

What are sustainability and the 17 sustainable development goals?

Humanity is using nature 1.7 times faster than our planet's biocapacity can regenerate. That means, we consume 1.7 planets’ worth of earth’s resources each year.

Sustainability involves making choices that consider the environmental, social and economic impacts of your actions and help maintain the balance. 

It is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

This could mean making sure that our natural resources aren't depleted, reducing our carbon footprint, and maintaining biodiversity in our forests and oceans. On the social front, sustainability involves ensuring people have access to basic necessities, are able to earn a living wage, and are protected from discrimination.

Understanding the sustainable development goals

Sustainability is not exactly a novel concept; throughout history, sustainable development has gone from a fringe matter to a central global topic.

In 2016, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development — adopted by world leaders in September 2015 at an historic UN Summit — officially came into force. The SDGs provide a blueprint for a more sustainable future.

The 17 SDGs are structured around the five pillars of the 2030 Agenda: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnerships. These 5 Ps highlight how the SDGs are an intertwined framework instead of a group of solo goals.

1. People - aiming to end poverty and hunger, ensure health and wellbeing, and provide quality education for all.
2. Planet - focusing on climate action, clean water, and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, life on land and life below water.
3. Prosperity - working to achieve decent economic growth and employment, innovation, and infrastructure.
4. Peace - striving for justice and strong institutions as well as partnerships to achieve the goals.
5. Partnership - recognising that the goals can only be achieved through global partnership and cooperation.

Rising awareness of sustainability

For some of us, sustainability can take the form of recycling, going zero waste, or switching to electric vehicles. But for others, there's still a lot of confusion about what sustainability really is. The concept can feel vague and distant, and it can be challenging to actively practice a sustainable lifestyle.

Sustainability in Singapore

Singapore's sustainability efforts have generally been in line with global trends. However, the vision of a "green city" has always been part of this country's DNA.

In 1967, Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew unveiled plans to transform Singapore into a city with lush greenery and a clean environment. By 2014, Singapore successfully planted 1.4 million new trees in line with that vision.

Some would argue that Singapore is ahead of the curve with its sustainability efforts. Singapore is among the 20 most carbon-efficient countries in the world and 95% of the country's electricity is generated with natural gas. Still, more can be done to rehabilitate and preserve our environment and our society. Singapore is also the regional leader in oil and gas refining, an industry that's a major contributor to the climate crisis. 

To that end, we don't have to depend on the government to bring about change. In fact, as individuals, we have a lot more power to influence change. At this point, you might be thinking, "How can I be more sustainable?"

SGD and SDGs: How can we make our dollars speak for us?

There are a number of ways that we can become more sustainable, from the smallest of acts — bringing your own reusable bags to the grocery store — to the bigger and more impactful contributions — investing in businesses and institutions that fight for the causes we care about.

Remember, small actions, when multiplied across society, can lead to significant positive impacts on our planet and communities.

In addition to making mindful choices with our shopping and enjoying the Climate Voucher initiative, another "SGD" action you can do is to embrace sustainability through ESG investments.

We can buy products from these businesses as consumers, or even invest in them as a shareholder. We can make a significant difference and we can make that difference by being deliberate about where we choose to invest our capital and resources.

Enter ESG investing

There are a variety of ways to invest responsibly. Some people choose to completely avoid companies that don't align with their values (think avoiding tobacco companies). Some investors actively invest in companies that have a lower carbon footprint compared to their peers. But these approaches may come at the cost of your performance goals of returns.

A more fruitful approach is investing in companies and funds that consider ESG (environmental, social, and governance) factors as part of their traditional financial framework. This means considering not just the fund's sustainable practices from a moral standpoint, but also a risk-return standpoint.

ESG investing can be your way of contributing to making a significant impact on the planet while also making sure that your financial future remains intact.

Find out more about the subtle differences between ESG investing, socially responsible investing (SRI), and impact investing.

How to start ESG investing in Singapore

Singapore offers various opportunities for ESG investing:

1. Green bonds: These finance environmentally friendly projects and are supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Green Bond Grant Scheme.
2. Sustainable funds: Invest in diversified portfolios of companies with strong ESG practices.
3. Renewable energy infrastructure: Support Singapore's transition to cleaner energy sources through investments in solar and wind projects.
4. ESG-integrated portfolios: Work with financial advisors to incorporate ESG factors into your existing investment strategy.
5. Impact investing: Focus on sectors like healthcare, education, and clean technology to generate positive social and environmental outcomes alongside financial returns.

At Endowus, the upgraded Endowus ESG Portfolios are designed to provide retail investors in Singapore with a core portfolio that aligns more closely with broad market benchmarks while maintaining a guiding ESG objective. They cater to value-driven investors who prefer to invest in more responsible companies while seeking to avoid socially and environmentally irresponsible investments.

The Portfolios consist of funds that apply exclusionary screening and tilt toward businesses that deliver positive impacts. It’s also important to note that incorporating ESG factors in one’s investment portfolio would mean more controlled ESG risk over time, an area traditional investment options might overlook. The Portfolio has a significantly lower fossil fuel involvement, compared to the broader equity market benchmark, and hence has lower exposure to energy transition risk.

Have a single fund in mind? To assist with navigation, we gathered a list of seven funds on Endowus Fund Smart that offer high-quality and responsible equity exposure for global, emerging markets, and Asia.

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Invest better to live better and importantly, for the future generations to live better. To get started with Endowus, click here.

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