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

Sustainability is integral to GIC’s mandate, which is to preserve and enhance the international purchasing power of the reserves under GIC’s management. GIC believes that companies with strong sustainability practices offer prospects of better risk-adjusted returns over the long term, and that this relationship will strengthen over time as market externalities get priced in and are incorporated into the decisions of regulators, businesses, and consumers. Sustainability issues, such as climate change, have a material impact on companies and physical assets, affecting their operations and financial performance and shaping their long-term value. GIC takes a holistic and long-term approach towards sustainability across its investment and corporate processes.

GIC is committed to enabling the global transition to a net-zero economy through its investments and operations. We believe it is critical to focus on making a positive impact in the real economy. To do this, GIC actively engages with portfolio companies on their climate transition plans and funds the adoption and scaling-up of green technologies.

GIC also aims to capture new investment opportunities by integrating sustainability into its investment processes that include due diligence, risk assessment, and monitoring. Additionally, we are actively engaging portfolio companies on sustainability issues that are material to their long-term business prospects and investing thematically in opportunities arising from climate change and other sustainability trends.

At the enterprise level, GIC has achieved its target of becoming carbon neutral in its global operations. GIC is committed to monitoring and managing its footprint by avoiding and reducing unnecessary carbon emissions. We have also put in place measures to offset any remaining emissions using industry-recognized, certified projects in the near term.

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

The global pace of developments in sustainability regulations has been nothing short of frenetic. In-house lawyers play an important role in keeping the company abreast of these developments, whether in relation to the company’s reporting obligations, sustainability-related regulations, or the trends in climate litigation and greenwashing claims.

We help the business understand the impact of these developments on the company, identify and implement strategies to manage non-compliance risks and, through that, drive change. With the globally increasing volume of pro-climate regulations, in-house lawyers in financial institutions are well-placed to help identify investment opportunities or trends that might arise through these legal and regulatory developments.