Green and Transition Solutions and Markets

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) promotes the development of innovative and credible green and transition financing solutions and markets to support decarbonisation and transition needs in Asia.

Sustainable Bond Grant Scheme and Sustainable Loan Grant Scheme

MAS enhanced its sustainable bond grant scheme and sustainable loan grant scheme to include transition bonds and loans in 2023. The grants, which were launched in 2017 (for bonds) and 2020 (for loans), seek to support the issuance and uptake of sustainable bonds and loans in Singapore by defraying the additional costs of engaging independent service providers to validate the green and sustainability credentials of the bond/loan.

In 2023, MAS enhanced the schemes to include transition bonds and loans, with safeguards in place to mitigate the risk of "transition-washing" and ensure alignment with internationally recognised taxonomy and transition finance principles.

Asia Climate Solutions Design Grant

Building on past efforts, MAS continues to scale the use of blended finance, in partnership with the private sector and philanthropic foundations, to mobilise financing for the decarbonisation of carbon-intensive sectors.

To unlock a pipeline of innovative and scalable blended climate finance solutions in emerging Asian markets, Convergence, with seed funding from MAS, launched the Asia Climate Solutions (ACS) Design Grant in Jun 2023. The S$5 million ACS Design Grant has secured its first round of funding commitments from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, MAS, The Olayan Group and UBS Optimus Foundation. There are ambitions to grow the grant funding programme beyond S$5 million and include technical assistance support for innovative blended finance solutions to be developed and scaled.

Working Paper on the Generation of Carbon Credits

MAS also supports the growth of carbon credits markets in Singapore to channel financing towards carbon abatement and removal projects in Asia. In Sep 2023, MAS launched a working paper on the generation of carbon credits from early decommissioning of coal-fired power plants to support the development of market-based mechanisms that can scale the financing of managed phase-out of coal-fired power plants.