Temasek, the Singapore investment corporation owned by the government of Singapore has published its first Sustainability report, revealing a significant drop of its portfolio-level carbon emissions.
The corporation said it has achieved a reduction in total portfolio emissions by 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), from 27 million tCO2e to 21 million tCO2e over the past financial year. The Portfolio Weighted Average Carbon Intensity (WACI) decreased from 116 tCO2e/S$M revenue to 92 tCO2e/S$M revenue.
These improvements come alongside positive financial returns with Temasek’s net portfolio value rising by S$7bn ($5bn) to reach S$389bn ($289.77).
When marking its unlisted assets to market value, the portfolio's value further uplifted by S$31bn ($23bn), bringing the total to S$420bn ($312bn), a S$9bn ($6.7bn) increase from the previous year. This growth was primarily driven by investment returns from the US and India, despite a downturn in China’s capital markets.
Temasek is a major investor in Asia, with nearly a third of its assets being invested in Singapore itself, a further 19% is invested in China and 22% across the Americas. Temasek said that higher returns from the US and India had offset the impact of China’s market performance over the last three years.
The portfolio also holds a significant allocation to alternatives with more than half of its assets being invested in unlisted markets. Transportation and industrials, which tend to be harder to abate sectors account with 22%
Earlier this year, the corporation announced the launch of Decarbonization Partners, a partnership with BlackRock aimed at advancing investment in decarbonisation strategies. The first fund closed in April at $1.40bn, surpassing its fundraising target of $1bn.
This year, Temasek has already deployed some S$3bn to what it calls the Sustainable Living trend, encompassing areas such as food, water, waste, energy, materials, clean transportation, and the built environment.
To further support its decarbonisation goals, Temasek raised its internal carbon price by 30% to $65 per tCO2e and plans to progressively increase this to $100 per tCO2e by 2030.
