A proposal by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) and Singapore Exchange Regulation (SGX RegCo) will require public and private companies to provide climate-related disclosures aligned with the recently published ISSB standards. The move is part of Singapore’s commitment to becoming a global hub for sustainable business practices and aligns with the government’s Singapore Green Plan 2030.
Currently, climate reporting requirements in Singapore only apply to listed companies in specific sectors, including finance, agriculture, food, forest products, and energy, and they must align with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. However, the new proposal seeks to broaden the scope of this obligation.
Under the proposal, all listed issuers, irrespective of sector or origin, as well as business trusts and real estate investment trusts, will be mandated to provide climate reporting, commencing from the financial year (FY) 2025. Furthermore, non-listed companies with revenues of at least $1bn will be required to comply with these reporting obligations starting from FY2027.
The proposal was informed by a public consultation launched by Singapore’s business reporting and accounting regulators following the recommendations by the Sustainability Reporting Advisory Committee.
Climate-reporting requirements for non-listed companies can only be found in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the European Union and Switzerland. The intention is to enhance transparency and ensure that climate-related information is disclosed across a wider range of companies, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of their climate risks and opportunities.
Furthermore, the regulators have outlined their intention to conduct a review in 2027. The review would assess the feasibility of extending the climate disclosure requirements to non-listed companies with revenues of at least $100mn. If deemed viable, these extended reporting obligations would likely commence around FY2030.
The proposal recommends additional time should be given for implementing scope 3 emissions reporting. The recommendations also suggest requiring external assurance for Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas reporting, commencing in FY2027 for listed issuers and FY2029 for large private companies.
The regulators have initiated a consultation period for the proposed mandatory climate-related reporting rules, which will continue until September 30.
This page was last updated July 17, 2023
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