Seeking to enhance Singapore firms’ competitiveness and resilience to climate risks, Singapore is establishing the Council for a Competitive Climate Transition (C3T), a new public-private collaboration led by the country’s National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF).
Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, launched the C3T at SBF’s Post-COP30 Dialogue on April 6. Fu also urged companies to integrate climate adaptation into business continuity plans at the event which was attended by The Edge Singapore.
“We need to take some time to think through it [climate adaptation], because, as I mentioned, extreme weather events are already here, and it may hit us in different ways, in different capacity, in different dimensions,” says Fu. “We need to start thinking so that we are better prepared.”
To be co-chaired by Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser at NCCS Ravi Menon and Singapore Business Federation CEO Kok Ping Soon, the C3T will develop concrete solutions with industry so as to support companies in planning for and responding to climate change, including in areas such as climate disclosure, green procurement and sustainable financing.
“Strengthening climate resilience and capturing green growth opportunities will require coordinated and sustained action across the ecosystem,” says Menon, who was managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore from 2011 to 2024. “The C3T will mobilise collective expertise and resources across government, industry and other stakeholders to help Singapore’s businesses thrive in a carbon‑constrained and climate‑impacted future.”
Menon adds that the current geopolitical situation, where the Middle East conflict has led to a spike in energy prices, does not weaken the case for climate action and strengthens it on the contrary. He explains, "We used to think of energy security and environmental sustainability as two distinct objectives and sometimes contradicting one another. But I think we are seeing now is that increasingly, they're mutually reinforcing objectives that energy security is environmental sustainability."
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Menon adds that the ongoing crisis is a reminder of the inherent vulnerabilities in the global oil and gas system, specifically high concentration risk in oil and gas transportation which are transported through a few choke points.
Set up as a response to increasing industry demand for practical, business‑relevant approaches to seize new climate-related opportunities and manage climate risks, C3T brings together and aligns stakeholders across the business ecosystem to drive implementation of climate initiatives such as sectoral transition pathways and the National Adaptation Plan (NAP). In addition, the C3T complements SBF’s Budget 2026 recommendation to strengthen coordinated support for businesses undertaking the green transition.
“In a climate‑impaired future, adaptation will be a baseline requirement for competitiveness – because disruptions from heat and extreme weather will increasingly affect operations, supply reliability, and investment decisions,” says Kok, who was CE of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech). “C3T will focus on practical, scalable solutions – starting with stronger climate information infrastructure – so businesses can better quantify and manage how climate risks impact their businesses.”
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In a joint press release, the SBF and NCCS note that businesses that reduce their carbon emissions will be more “resilient” against global energy shocks. They point out that firms will be able to strengthen the resilience of their assets, operations, workforce and supply chains with better understanding and mitigation of their physical climate risks.
Maybank Singapore CEO Alvin Lee, who spoke at the dialogue, says that platforms such as C3T are “important” in strengthening climate resilience and helping businesses translate climate commitments into practical outcomes while elaborating on the role played by financial institutions in the climate transition.
“Banks have a critical role to play, beyond financing green projects, by enabling credible transition pathways across the real economy,” he adds. “In Singapore and across the region, this means supporting businesses at different stages of transition with the right financing solutions, data and partnerships to move from intent to action.”
During the event, SBF and Maybank Singapore signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on internationalisation and sustainability initiatives to support Singapore businesses in regional growth and climate transition. This partnership will focus on cross border expansion, knowledge sharing, and capacity building programmes, leveraging SBF’s networks and platforms — such as NetZeroHub.SG — alongside Maybank’s sectoral and sustainable finance expertise, to promote practical decarbonisation pathways.
Themed “Navigating Climate and Business in 2026”, the dialogue was physically and virtually attended by more than 500 business leaders, foreign dignitaries, government officials and sustainability professionals.
Event speakers included Fu, Menon, Kok, Lee, as well as Sustainability Alliance Singapore co-chair Frank Phuan, KPMG partner for ESG consulting Cherine Fok and ESGpedia founder and managing director Benjamin Soh. Topics covered included key developments such as COP30’s Belém Package on adaptation and finance, as well as Singapore’s forthcoming National Adaptation Plan’s implications for the business community.
