SBF signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) at Ecosperity Week 2025 on May 6, confirming the adoption of the Partnership for Carbon Transparency’s (PACT) latest methodology and technical specifications for emissions data into the SEFR.
PACT is an initiative that enables businesses to calculate and exchange standardised carbon footprint data across supply chains.
Hosted by the WBCSD, PACT recently released the third version of its methodology after two years of consultation with multinationals, technology providers and climate experts.
The WBCSD is a CEO-led global community of over 240 of the world’s leading businesses, focused on tackling inequality, restoring nature and limiting the impact of climate change.
Among its members, 54 are headquartered in Asia, says president and CEO Peter Bakker, and the WBCSD plans to focus on engaging companies in China and Southeast Asia “in the next few years”.
The SEFR is the first country-wide registry to align with this standard. More than 32,000 members of SBF can soon calculate and exchange consistent and reliable product carbon footprint (PCF) data of their goods and services.
Consumer electronics firm Razer has committed to be the first business to list its products’ life cycle assessment and environment product declaration reports in the PACT-aligned SEFR.
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“By calculating PCF and presenting this information to buyers, brands like Razer are able to drive revenue of their products, giving customers transparency into what they’re buying and helping them to make clearer decisions,” says Hu Ching, head of the Net Zero Transition Programme office at SBF.
Aside from the consumer-facing market, Hu says the “majority of action” is actually “taking place in the B2B market” between businesses. “More companies are going into green procurement; they want to incorporate sustainability criteria as part of their procurement process. PCF data, when it’s available, is going to be a very useful decision-making tool for these companies that want to procure responsibly.”
PCF data is not yet available on the SEFR platform. Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu announced plans for the SEFR in April 2024, and the platform went live in October that year. “We are aiming for the PCF data to be made available within a shorter timeframe this year,” says Hu to The Edge Singapore.
Emissions factors
The SEFR is a reference list of activities and the pre-determined amount of emissions generated, which firms can use to estimate their emissions based on Singapore’s context.
SEFR was launched with emissions data from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star), four government agencies, the Singapore Green Building Council (SGBC), Singtel and PwC Singapore.
With the adoption of PACT, SEFR will enable any organisation in Singapore to list “high-quality PCF data” for their goods and services, say WBCSD, SBF and PACT.
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This means Singapore companies will have better access to high-quality PCF information from international suppliers. Singapore firms can also produce high-quality PCF information and disclose this to international customers.
Any business is eligible to list its PACT-aligned PCF data with the SEFR. By aligning with PACT Methodology Version 3, SEFR enhances transparency and standardisation in the way emissions data is reported and exchanged across organisations.
SBF launched the SEFR with over 200 emissions factors over eight categories — building equipment, building materials, fuel, greenhouse gases, land transport, purchased energy, waste and water — calculated with Singapore’s context in mind.
SBF said then that it would add new emissions factors for logistics, information and communications technology, cleaning services and security services from 2025.
In response to The Edge Singapore, SBF CEO Kok Ping Soon says his team has been focused on helping firms calculate their Scope 3 emissions — such as with the PACT deal — and work is still ongoing for sectoral data.
SBF has, however, increased the number of digital solution providers that have committed to making SEFR data available on their own platforms, from 12 at launch to 20 today, including platforms like the UN Global Compact Network Singapore’s Carbon Emissions Recording Tool (CERT), ESGpedia and the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Gprint.
