Singapore, 31st May 2022 – EB Impact, the non-profit sister organisation of Eco-Business, has concluded its second version of the Sustainability Exchange with strategic companions Meta (previously Facebook) and OCBC. The Sustainability Exchange is a youth-mentorship programme aimed toward fixing sustainability challenges and advancing the Singapore Green Plan.
Jessica Cheam, EB Impact Founder and Eco-Business Founder and Managing Director, “EB Impact is thrilled to have convened a second profitable season of Sustainability Exchange. This 12 months, we had a brand new steering committee present their technical experience and steering to give you a set of drawback statements that we consider had been thrilling and significant for members. The 11 collaborating groups got here up with robust and tangible options to the sustainability issues in our society.
The extra funding secured from the #OCBCCares Environment Fund has additionally helped to supply the assets wanted for teenagers to show their concepts into actuality. We’re grateful to all our companions for making this programme potential, and we’re trying ahead to serving to and supporting younger professionals remedy real-world challenges with the steering of our passionate mentors.”
The second season of the programme was launched with strategic companions Meta and OCBC Bank, with help from the Climate Action SG Alliance, and educational companions from the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University (Centre for Business Sustainability), Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore Management.
“Facebook/Meta is proud to continue our commitment to partnering with EB Impact for this meaningful programme, helping youths to accelerate their understanding and take action towards sustainability issues. Over the years we’ve been helping partners with their community building and education efforts,” mentioned Gavin Chua, Head of Infrastructure Engagement in APAC for Facebook.
This 12 months the main target of the issue statements was on the Singapore Green Plan, which acknowledges that local weather change is a ‘critical global priority and charts targets over the next decade’, positioning the nation in reaching our long-term net-zero emissions objective, as quickly as viable. To improve local weather and financial resilience, the Green Plan units out 5 key pillars – akin to the town in Nature, Energy Reset, Green Economy, Resilient Future and Sustainable Living.
Ms Koh Ching Ching, OCBC Bank Head of Group Brand and Communications shared that with the groundswell of local weather change points, the necessity for motion has change into more and more pressing. She shared, “The purpose of our #OCBCCares Environment Fund is to motivate the community to drive projects that can empower the general public to implement sustainable and scalable climate action solutions that will benefit Singapore. That’s why this Fund supports projects that go beyond raising awareness and driving actionable impact on the environment. We need to rouse everyone to take action now.”
The 11 collaborating groups of the Sustainability Exchange labored on their drawback statements to give you viable options to be carried out. The groups offered their drawback statements, on the Sustainability Exchange Season 2, Final Showcase on the 27th of May 2022. With round 70 friends together with collaborating groups, mentors and different friends attended the in-person occasion at Crane, Singapore.
All 11 collaborating groups of the Sustainability Exchange had been allowed to current their options to the panel of esteemed judges and obtained suggestions on their proposals. The judges deliberated and got here up with the 5 successful groups to obtain funding from OCBC Bank of as much as $100,000 SGD. The successful workforce included:
- Ecologue: Leverages know-how to democratise local weather choices by tackling three key areas – participation, transparency and capability constructing, they hope to empower residents to share opinions, and co-create win-win options with firms and the federal government, and vice-versa.
- ReuseOnly: This is an answer that gives comfort and allows customers to construct a sustainable way of life, by selling the concept of sharing and reusing by means of the supply of a 2-in-1 merchandising machine.
- Agroath: This is a web-based academic platform with data on native manufacturing and a simulative recreation that goals to experientially educate round 50,000 distinctive people (youths) in its first 12 months of operation.
- Bottles Out: This is an answer that brings in refillable merchandising machines to sort out PET bottle waste in Singapore. Consider a hybrid between water coolers and the standard merchandising machines you see each day, these refillable merchandising machines dispense your favorite drinks akin to inexperienced tea to beat the warmth in sunny Singapore.
- Ecomap: Is a one-stop answer platform that consolidates numerous assets and knowledge (training, authorities help, and financing choices), making it easy for customers to navigate and discover what they want.
The groups will use the OCBC funding to pilot their initiatives and create a roadmap for his or her work for the subsequent 12 months. The workforce chief of Ecomap Liu Jiahui shared, “My team and I are incredibly grateful to be one of the finalists of the Sustainability Exchange. We are excited to take our innovative idea, EcoMap, to the next stage of development. In time to come, we hope to contribute in small, meaningful ways to Singapore’s Green Plan.”
Although solely 5 out of 11 groups obtained funding, all different groups will proceed to get help from EB Impact and be a part of the rising neighborhood of youths and professionals working in direction of tackling sustainability points. A choose within the season 2 closing showcase Meryl Koh, Director, Drew & Napier LLC and Board Member, EB Impact shared, “Sustainability Exchange is growing from strength to strength with such overwhelming response from youths and mentors alike. There was a palpable sense of urgency amongst the young participants who were clearly determined to make a difference as future custodians of our Earth and their proposals showed that.”
With the profitable finish to season 2 of the Sustainability Exchange, EB Impact will proceed to help the youths and start to plan for season 3 of the programme. With Singapore’s transition to a Green Economy, a pillar in Singapore’s Green Plan 2030, the visitor of honour Desmond Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, shared, “Regardless of our experience in the workforce, there is potential for each and everyone to be a part of this transition. Institutions and companies have rolled out programmes to equip our workforce with the necessary skills for the future. For example, the Singapore Motor Workshop Association has worked with various agencies to train technicians in servicing electric and hybrid vehicles as we phase out internal combustion engine vehicles. Across our tertiary institutions, there are more than 100 Continuing Education and Training (CET) courses for those working in industries facing a “green transition”.”
-Ends-
Note to Editors
All media protection of the occasion ought to embrace a point out of Sustainability Exchange, an initiative by EB Impact, in partnership with Meta and OCBC Bank, supported by Climate Action SG Alliance.
Full listing of audio system:
Judges
- Gavin Chua Head of Stakeholder Engagement, APAC, Facebook
- Amy Ho Director, Sustainability at National University of Singapore
- Ching Ching Koh OCBC Group Brand and Communications
- Meryl Koh Director, Drew & Napier LLC and Board Member, EB Impact
- Wang Weixiang Director, Environmental Policy Division, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment
Guest of Honour
- Desmond Tan Minister of State for Home Affairs and Sustainability and the Environment
List of ultimate proposals:
Click right here to search out all of the proposals from season two of the Sustainability Exchange.
List of drawback statements:
Click right here to search out out what are the issue statements for this season.
For media inquiries, interviews and photographs, please contact:
Dian S Ander
dian.anderson@ebimpact.org
Associate Director
EB Impact
The SDG Co, 2 Science Park Drive | 01-03, Ascent | Singapore 118222
APPENDIX
About Sustainability Exchange
Sustainability Exchange is a youth-mentorship programme by EB Impact which facilitates knowledge-sharing between corporates and the youth neighborhood. This initiative permits for teenagers to faucet on the mentors’ huge trade experiences and to achieve helpful insights into the sustainability house, whereas permitting for company mentors to work alongside the youth skills, producing modern options that search to deal with Singapore’s local weather and sustainability points.
About EB Impact
EB Impact is the non-profit arm of Eco-Business, targeted on delivering coaching and programmes to Asia Pacific’s underserved communities with a concentrate on youth to generate constructive sustainable improvement impression. We are headquartered in Singapore and our three strategic areas of focus are Education, Youth, and Nature-based options. All our programmes are designed to immediately generate a constructive setting and social impression on society.
About Meta
Founded in 2004, Meta’s (beforehand Facebook) mission is to offer folks the ability to construct neighborhood and convey the world nearer collectively. People use Meta’s apps and applied sciences to attach with family and friends, discover communities and develop companies.
About OCBC Bank
OCBC Bank is the longest established Singapore financial institution, shaped in 1932 from the merger of three native banks, the oldest of which was based in 1912. It is now the second-largest monetary providers group in Southeast Asia by belongings and one of many world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 score from Moody’s. Recognised for its monetary energy and stability, OCBC Bank is constantly ranked among the many World’s Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore and the Asia Pacific by The AsianBanker.
OCBC Bank and its subsidiaries provide a broad array of business banking, specialist monetary and wealth administration providers, starting from shopper, company, funding, non-public and transaction banking to treasury, insurance coverage, asset administration and stockbroking providers.
OCBC Bank’s key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has over 610 branches and consultant places of work in 18 nations and areas. These embrace greater than 330 branches and places of work in Indonesia underneath subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP, and 100 branches and places of work in Hong Kong, China and Macau underneath OCBC Wing Hang.
OCBC Bank’s non-public banking providers are supplied by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore, which operates on a singular open-architecture product platform to supply for the best-in-class merchandise to fulfill its purchasers’ objectives.
OCBC Bank’s insurance coverage subsidiary, Great Eastern Holdings, is the oldest and most established life insurance coverage group in Singapore and Malaysia. Its asset administration subsidiary, Lion Global Investors, is likely one of the largest private-sector asset administration firms in Southeast Asia.
About Climate Action SG Alliance
Climate Action SG Alliance includes a gaggle of 17 NGOs and enterprise leaders to advocate local weather motion and lift public consciousness on local weather points.
Sustainability Exchange Season 2 collaborating groups:
- TEAM ECOLOGUE: Ecologue hopes to leverage know-how to democratise local weather choices. By tackling the three key areas – participation, transparency and capability constructing, in hopes to empower residents to share their opinions, and co-create win-win options with firms and the federal government, and vice-versa. In the long term, Ecologue additionally goals to extend and supply alternatives for mutual studying between folks throughout totally different backgrounds and in the end, the creation of a public think-tank.
- TEAM WESGATE: The answer is a web-based platform which goals to be “the first port of call” for firms recent to sustainability reporting to kickstart their sustainability journey with us. Aiming to deliver readability of the dangers and alternatives of sustainability reporting to related stakeholders. This platform additionally serves as an ecosystem aggregator to help key, overlapping distributors throughout the similar trade to share their sustainability experience.
- TEAM REUSE ONLY: ReuseOnly is an answer that gives comfort and allows customers to construct a sustainable way of life.ReuseOnly goals to problem the established order by selling the concept of sharing and reusing by means of the supply of a 2-in-1 merchandising machine. Prioritising the discount of waste and carbon emissions and the conservation of pure assets.
- TEAM ECO SCHOLAR: The venture goals to ship inexperienced training guided by the SG Green Plan 2030 to permit youths to understand the significance of sustainable city planning and domesticate the subsequent era of eco-citizens. With the intent to increase the CCE curriculum by evolving the ESP to align with the Green Plan, to impression all secondary faculty college students in Singapore, thereby creating a large pool of youth with elevated understanding and dedication to contributing to a extra sustainable metropolis.
- TEAM THE GREEN ALLIANCE: Private firms could also be hesitant to take a position/fund NBS initiatives as it’s troublesome to guage and due to this fact decide its ROI. To encourage firms to take a position sooner or later, and not using a foreseeable ROI, in hopes to create a platform the place firms can fund verified NBS initiatives/analysis. This goals to channel non-public funds to pricey NBS initiatives, thereby decreasing the funding hole.
- TEAM ECOMAP: The proposed answer is a one-stop platform that consolidates numerous assets and knowledge (training, authorities help, and financing choices), making it easy for customers to navigate and discover what they want.
- TEAM PORTZ: Portz, is aimed toward growing the adoption price of electrical automobiles in Singapore. Portz has recognized the supply and comfort of utilizing charging stations as key elements as to why Singaporeans favor to not personal and use EVs. Portz plans to do that by connecting EV homeowners to charging stations with limitless charging for a month-to-month subscription charge. By making EV charging extra handy and versatile, it goals to extend EV adoption charges in Singapore.
- TEAM GREEN JOBS: The Green Jobs answer is a coaching programme for teenagers in STEM fields, focusing on three areas: upskilling, sensible software of content material learnt and lastly work placements. Through a platform, in hopes to equip youths with the related expertise for future inexperienced careers.
- TEAM SEE LEVEL: See Level believes {that a} climate-resilient metropolis requires a resilient neighborhood, and this begins with an App. The See Level App goals to coach customers of the app on the impression of rising sea ranges and present how present measures work. Through Augmented Reality and real-life examples, in hopes that customers will be taught and perceive how cities may be designed to be flood resilient. The venture doesn’t simply cease at constructing local weather literacy. The goal is to encourage extra bottom-up approaches in the case of designing a metropolis and goal to realize this by participating the residents of the focused web site to place what they’ve learnt to make use of by designing a flood resilient public house collectively as a neighborhood.
- TEAM AGROATH: Agroath is a web-based academic platform with data on native manufacturing and a simulative recreation that goals to experientially educate round 50,000 distinctive people (youths) in its first 12 months of operation. It is Agroath’s mission to assist make Singapore extra resilient to overseas provide chain shocks and develop the marketplace for native produce by educating the subsequent era of Singapore’s workforce.
- TEAM BOTTLES OUT: The answer is to roll out refillable merchandising machines to sort out PET bottle waste in Singapore. Consider a hybrid between water coolers and the standard merchandising machines you see each day, these refillable merchandising machines dispense your favorite drinks akin to inexperienced tea to beat the warmth in sunny Singapore. Furthermore, customers can even assist cut back environmental impression by dropping off used PET bottles to earn rewards. These PET bottles will likely be bought to different native enterprises that utilise PET bottles of their companies.
Members of the Sustainability Exchange steering committee:
- Jessica Cheam, Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business; Board of Directors, EB Impact
- Gavin Chua, Head of Infrastructure Engagement APAC, Facebook
- Isabella Chia, Vice President, Group Corporate Communications, OCBC Bank
- Gadgil Abhiruchi, Research Fellow, NTU (Cambridge CREATE Centre for Carbon Reduction in Chemical Technologies)
- Ted Tschang, Associate Professor of Strategic Management; Course Coordinator, Sustainability, Singapore
- Management University
- Melissa Low, Research Fellow, Energy Studies Institute
- Chan Mun Wei, Associate Lecturer, Singapore University of Social Sciences Joyce Tan, Associate Faculty and Specialist, Office of Career Development, Singapore University of Social Sciences
- Yina Chua, Business Development Manager, Singapore Polytechnic
- Carol Tan, Singapore Polytechnic