Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally-friendly activities?  

As one of the largest power companies in Singapore, we have a crucial role to play in advancing the nation’s transition to a low-carbon and greener economy. Currently, almost all of our energy is generated through natural gas, the cleanest fossil fuel available. In terms of renewable energy sources, we have also invested significantly in solar energy and are looking into others like hydrogen on an exploratory basis. Moreover, we are exploring the possibility of importing green energy from the wider ASEAN region due to Singapore’s limitations in scaling up renewable energy. 

Additionally, we have partnered with Strides Holdings to provide electric vehicle charging services in Singapore. As part of a consortium, we won a tender from the Land Transport Authority to build charging points at HDB carparks in the Central and East regions of Singapore. 

We have also launched the Power Eco Add-on scheme to provide our customers with the option of selecting between Carbon Credits (CC) or Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) as a power plan supplement and offset up to 3,920kg of carbon dioxide emissions annually (per household). Further, we have encouraged customers to recycle their unused red packets by providing 30 recycling bins island wide and started a Plant a Tree initiative with the goal of planting 250 trees by 2025. 

In my role as the company’s Head of Legal, I am well-placed to contribute to the process of conceptualising ideas (in tandem with my Renewables team), drafting, and negotiating relevant agreements to bring green initiatives to life for my company. 

Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations? 

In-house lawyers are well-placed to drive green change in their organisations because they typically have a good understanding of the legal and regulatory frameworks related to environmental sustainability, including climate change and energy regulations. Coupled with their knowledge of the business, in-house lawyers can identify strategies for change and assess their viability in legal and commercial terms. Moreover, the opinions of in-house lawyers are often held in high regard by management and business colleagues, which means that their strategies are more likely to gain considerable traction within the organisation. 

It can be difficult to truly measure a company’s track record and accomplishments in terms of their environmentally friendly behaviour. What do you think has, until now, been mostly missed when discussing how green a company is? 

I think what has been mostly missed is the need for more standardised benchmarks in terms of measuring and reporting environmental performance. Many companies use metrics that are not standardised or easily comparable, making it difficult to assess their environmental impact accurately. If there are more standardised benchmarks, this will facilitate comparison of environmental performance between companies and consequently provide more grounds for change. Standardised benchmarks can also help companies identify areas for improvement and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to stakeholders and customers.