Singapore’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda (SDG), embodied by the Singapore Green Plan 2030, aims to achieve a greener and more sustainable future for the nation.

The plans are in alignment with the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Read our latest insights on the Green Gov report.

The intended result of Singapore’s 2030 Green Plan, is for Singapore to sustainably mitigate the climate impact of our population by achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

The estimated benchmark for Singapore’s carbon-neutrality is lowering our emissions to 33MtCO2e by 2050.

The transition schemes include increasing Singapore’s renewable energy mix, investing in carbon-capture, utilisation & storage tech, increasing our green spaces, reducing waste output, setting up green financing and carbon-credits trading infrastructure, which are towards enabling our country to adopt Sustainable Transition as a self-sustaining competitive asset that contributes to our long-term prosperity before the turn of the century. Learn more about Singapore’s transition & mitigation plans.

You might be wondering, how is this relevant to SMEs?

40% of our national emissions are contributed by SMEs, spread across 99% of our businesses in Singapore, employing 70% of the nation's workforce, and contributing to about half of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

SMEs play a pivotal role in market-proofing climate mitigation strategies at scale, as they are more nimble to pivot and adopt more sustainable environmental and socially-responsible practices.

The Singapore government has rolled out subsidised transition schemes, such as Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) and the Energy Efficiency Fund (E2F), to incentivise and assist proactive SMEs push through the inertia of ambiguity, financial and knowledge gaps.

Levies & Disclosures of Singapore’s ESG regulatory schemes.

The schemes are designed to impose higher costs and bigger risk exposures for large corporations, with a direct implication on their supply chain of subcontractors, suppliers and partners, to adapt and adjust accordingly.

Each scheme also foreshadows the potential business resilience and transition gaps, which SMEs have to be aware of to safeguard their market share and longevity of their business.

💡ESG Leadership Hour: We’ll be addressing the most prevalent resilience gaps that SMEs have to be aware of in an upcoming ESG leadership workshop on 18th June:

💵Levy | Carbon Tax

Raised to S$45/tCO2e in 2026 and 2027, with a view to reaching S$50-80/tCO2e by 2030. The carbon tax is applicable to corporations that directly emit at least 25,000 tCO2e of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions annually.

According to NCCS’s estimations, on average, with every $5/tCO2e increase in the carbon tax level, electricity tariffs could rise by around 1%. The increase in carbon tax to $25/tCO2e is estimated to translate to an increase of about $4 per month in household utility bills for the average 4-room HDB flat.

💵Levy | Beverage Container Fee

In the effort of reducing single-use plastic waste and improving our plastic packaging recycling rate, the Beverage Container Return Scheme (BCRS) will commence on 1st April 2026.

The scheme aim to hold the beverage producers (importers & manufacturers) responsible, by imposing a 10-cent per container (plastic / metal, 150ml to 3L) deposit fee, which would be refundable when consumers returns the empty plastic or metal beverage containers at designated return points & reverse vending machines.

Additionally, larger supermarket outlets with a floor area of more than 200m² will be required to set up return points.

💵Levy | E-waste Membership & Management Fee

Under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme from 1 July 2021, businesses that import, manufactures or engages in manufacturing services of solar panels, ICT equipment, large appliances, batteries and lamps, are required to pay an 1) annual membership fees (based on the regulated goods’ market share of each product class) and 2) finance the collection and recycling of e-waste goods (based on the weight of e-waste collected), when the supply of regulated goods in Singapore exceeds the respective product-class volume thresholds.

💵Levy | Food Waste segregation under the Resource Sustainability Act

The act require premises to segregate their food waste for treatment and reporting. These buildings include shopping malls, hotels, industrial single and multi-user factories.

Occupants of these buildings are required to segregate and dispose of food waste at the facility provided by the owner/building manager.

Owners of new buildings must now segregate their waste on-site unless a written permission is obtained from NEA.

The carbon tax applied to our waste incineration, which in 2024 produced 868,800 tonnes of CO2, could in time be passed onto SME food retailers and consumers. As 11% of our incinerated waste comes from food, which is the 2nd largest source of incinerated waste.

The more food waste retailers and consumer generates, the higher our waste incineration carbon tax would be, which would inevitably trickle downstream.

🔍Disclosure | Impending Scope 3 Emission reporting

Scope 3 mandatory reporting is on the horizon as listed entities will need to start including Scope 3 emissions in their reporting from FY2026. 

It is a move that would significantly impact SMEs within the listed companies’ value chains, creating a cascading effect that would compel SMEs to start tracking and managing their carbon footprint to remain competitive and relevant.

These challenges have transcended upon the private equity world, as investors have begun their ESG assessments of portfolio companies, to check if significant ESG risks and opportunities are being managed, even prior to term sheet issuance as part of their pre-investment screening processes.

This development underscores a broader market shift where ESG considerations are becoming integral to evaluating a company's long-term value creation potential, operational resilience, and overall financial viability.

Investors are increasingly utilising ESG metrics to identify both material risks, such as climate-related disruptions or governance failures, and value-creation opportunities; including enhanced brand reputation, talent attraction, and operational efficiencies in their prospective and existing portfolio companies.

This heightened focus is driven by factors including growing pressure from Limited Partners (LPs), evolving regulatory landscapes globally, and an increasing body of evidence suggesting a correlation between strong ESG performance and improved financial outcomes or reduced risk.

🔍Disclosure | Mandatory Packaging Reporting

Companies that supply regulated goods in Singapore and has an annual turnover of more than $10 million, will be required to submit their Packaging report annually.

This includes brand owners, manufacturers, importers and retailers such as supermarkets.

Companies will have to provide the total weight, type of packaging material and packaging form of the total packaging imported or used in Singapore.

Additionally, companies will need to submit their 3R plans which are Reduction, Reuse or Recycle, Consumer / Industry outreach about their improved packaging or use of recycled content in the packaging material, and or improving recyclability of packaging.

🔍Disclosure | Energy performance and emission reporting under the Energy Conservation Act.

Manufacturing

Specifically applied to manufacturing and related services that consume more than 54 terajoules of energy annually. Services that include supplying of electricity, gas, steam, compressed air, chilled water, water, sewage, or waste management.

These corporations have to report on the greenhouse gas emissions of their energy use, implement energy management system, monitor energy efficiency by conducting an energy efficiency opportunities assessment (EEOA) and submitting the EEOA report every 6 years.

Transport

The Energy Conservation Act also applies to the transport sector by requiring transport facility operators that consume >15GWh of energy per year, to monitor and report energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and submit energy efficiency improvement plans.

Buildings

The interpretation of the Act is also applied to buildings in Singapore through the Mandatory Energy Improvement (MEI) regime, which mandates energy efficiency requirements and management practices for buildings. This regime requires building owners to: 1) carry out an energy audit, 2) implement measures to reduce energy consumption, and 3) maintain improved energy performance.

Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has also issued a Code for Environmental Sustainability of Buildings as a framework for construction and real estate sectors. It sets out minimum environmental sustainability measures for both new and existing buildings.

The code includes mandatory prescriptive elements for both residential and non-residential buildings, focusing on areas like thermal envelope performance, HVAC efficiency, lighting, airtightness, sub-metering, and renewable energy.

Goods & Supplies

Another sector that is affected by the Energy Conservation Act are the regulated electrical appliances goods and supplies, through Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) and Mandatory Energy Labelling Scheme (MELS).

These standards, set by the National Environment Agency (NEA), ensure that regulated goods meet minimum energy efficiency levels and are labelled to help consumers make informed purchasing decisions.

From April 2025, commercial storage refrigerators and water heaters will also be regulated.

Founders and CSOs: Need help overcoming your organisation's sustainability challenges?

Book a 30mins non-obligatory call during our ESG consulting office hours for bespoke advice!

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