Global sustainability setbacks will not affect the Singapore lender’s transition engagement efforts with businesses, especially those committed to their net zero efforts, says Yoonmee Jeong, who heads OCBC’s global wholesale banking sustainability office.
Across Asian markets, sustainability efforts remain steady despite global headwinds. Governments and corporates increasingly recognise that the transition to a low-carbon economy is not a short-term agenda but a long-term imperative.
After years of ambitious pledges and headline announcements, many organisations are entering a more mature phase in their sustainability journeys to re-shape their business models for the better while recalibrating their ambitions. This includes companies in hard-to-abate sectors as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which form the backbone of our economy and are integral to the supply chains of many large corporations.
OCBC believes that a successful transition must be inclusive, supporting businesses of all sizes. Only then, can we achieve meaningful and lasting changes, says Yoonmee Jeong, who helms Singapore lender OCBC’s Global Wholesale Banking Sustainability Office.
While large companies are setting the pace for change with meaningful investments and sector-wide roadmaps, SMEs are indispensable enablers of that transition, providing essential products and services that support the sustainability efforts of large companies, Jeong told Eco-Business.
These efforts are in line with the bank’s guiding principle, “Transition for all”, said Jeong, as it roots its approach to sustainability in practical solutions tailored to the needs of its clients.
In this interview, Jeong shares about the bank’s 1.5°C loan, Singapore’s first net zero-aligned loan for corporates, as well as how the bank sees new developments in the sustainability reporting landscape, as the city state extends its timelines for implementing International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)-aligned climate disclosure requirements.
Yoonmee Jeong, head of OCBC’s Global Wholesale Sustainability Banking office. Image: OCBC
OCBC’s sustainable finance loan commitments surpassed its 2025 target of S$50 billion (US$38.5 billion) in 2023. Are you able to disclose the latest figure and the breakdown of how much will go towards “pure” green activities and the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate sectors respectively?
Our sustainable financing activities remain very strong. Last year, we were ranked the #1 ESG loan provider across Asia ex-Japan and Asean markets. While large-scale green investments such as green buildings and renewable energy projects continue to make up a significant portion of our sustainable finance portfolio, our focus goes beyond the numbers. What truly matters is driving real, measurable impact on the ground.
In 2023, when the bank committed to achieving net zero financed emissions by 2050, it became clear that focusing solely on financing green assets would not be sufficient. This prompted a strategic shift toward deeper engagement with corporates, especially those in hard-to-abate sectors, on their transition journeys. Transition financing has gained steady momentum, and it is an area where we are investing more time and resources.
Our growing focus on supporting credible decarbonisation has prompted us to rethink how financing solutions are designed. We were challenged to go further than conventional green and sustainability linked loans, and to create an engagement tool that can deliver meaningful impact. This was why we launched the OCBC 1.5°C loan, a first-of-its-kind offering aimed at empowering businesses that are setting ambitious, science-aligned net-zero targets.
Can you tell us more about this loan and do you have a target in mind for its take-up?
The OCBC 1.5°C loan is a sustainability linked loan designed to encourage and incentivise companies to set science-based decarbonisation targets aligned with a 1.5°C pathway. It also promotes transparent annual disclosure on their progress towards net zero goals.
Committing to a net zero-aligned pathway is a bold and significant undertaking for any company. But we’ve been encouraged by the conviction shown by several of our clients. In fact, once they understood how the 1.5°C loan could galvanise their organisations to commit to 1.5°C-aligned targets, it sparked a wave of interest and enthusiasm – some were even racing to be the first to secure the loan.
City Developments Limited (CDL) led the way as the first borrower, followed soon by Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust and CapitaLand Ascott Trust. A major milestone came when COFCO International became the first client from the food and agriculture sector to adopt the 1.5°C loan, giving us renewed confidence in the broader applicability of this solution.
We sometimes joke that if all our clients adopted the 1.5°C loan, we would be well on our way to meeting our net zero targets by 2050.
Beyond financing, the loan also serves as a framework for strategic engagement, enabling meaningful conversations with clients about how we can better support them on their transition journeys. We will continue to roll out this solution out across the region.
We also recognise that companies have diverse funding needs. Some companies will require funding for transitional activities, such as investing in greener vessels, adopting cleaner fuels, and deploying decarbonisation enablers such as carbon capture and storage (CCS). We are committed to growing our support in these areas.
In 2024, OCBC was the only Southeast Asian bank to finance CCS projects in the United Kingdom. These included the Northern Endurance Partnership, which aims to develop a carbon dioxide transportation network in Teeside, and Net Zero Teeside, a fully integrated 860-megawatt (MW) combined cycle gas turbine power plant with carbon capture technology. We view CCS as essential for tackling emissions in hard-to-abate sectors and remain dedicated to supporting our clients in exploring transition finance needs for their business.
In terms of transition financing instruments, what are some that OCBC has come up with? How are you also viewing some of the emerging transition mechanisms, like?
We have developed a comprehensive suite of transition engagement tools to support clients on their decarbonisation journey. These tools help businesses better understand their emissions profiles, benchmark against industry best practices, and identify actionable steps to reduce their carbon footprint. They are tailored to the specific needs and challenges of clients across different sectors and business sizes.
A key part of our engagement involves guiding clients through complex transition frameworks and taxonomies. To further support this, OCBC led an industry working group under the Singapore Sustainable Finance Association (SSFA) to develop practical guidance for transition financing, anchored on the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy.
We are also actively studying the potential and viability of transition credits as a scalable transition tool. As a member of the Transition Credits Coalition (TRACTION), [convened by the Monetary Authority of Singapore,] we actively participate in industry discussions, sharing our perspectives and knowledge.
Structuring commercially viable, high-quality transition credits will require strong leadership and determination from industry players, including policy makers. MAS’s leadership in this space is commendable, and commercial banks like ours are committed to learning from the process and contributing meaningfully to scale the market when ready.
While there are still many questions and challenges to address before transition credits can be structured and scaled effectively, I remain optimistic and encouraged by the steadfast commitment and collaboration we continue to see across the region.
SMEs often face limits in resources and require assistance in capability building. Can you share how the bank is supporting SMEs on their sustainability journeys?
Early in our sustainable financing journey, we realised that while large companies were leading the charge, it was the SMEs – who provide the low-carbon products and services – that were enabling the transition. As the sustainability landscape evolved, it also became clear to us that global companies were no longer focused solely on decarbonising their own operations, but were also setting ambitious targets for supply chain engagement and Scope 3 emissions reduction. This shift has placed increasing pressure on our SME clients, many of whom are integral parts of these supply chains but may lack the capabilities or resources to meet these evolving expectations.
Recognising this, we are committed to ensuring that SMEs are not left behind. Supporting their transition is not only the right thing to do – it is essential for building resilience and shared growth across the value chain.
In 2020, we launched the SME Sustainable Finance Framework to recognise SME’s efforts in advancing sustainable development and facilitate access to sustainable financing. Since then, we have introduced numerous sustainable financing programmes across our core markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia. As of end-2024, we have since supported close to 4,000 SMEs with over S$9 billion in sustainable financing.
Our SME engagement model is anchored on three pillars, AAA – Awareness, Action and Access to capital. Beyond financing, we engage with SMEs by helping to equip them with necessary knowledge, connecting them with the right ecosystem partners to take meaningful action, and delivering accessible, practical and cost-competitive financing solutions to support their transition.
In February this year, we launched the OCBC SME Start-ESG Programme [OCBC SME Start-ESG Programme| OCBC Business Banking SG], in partnership with Enterprise Singapore, to support SMEs with tools to assess their sustainability readiness and encourage continuous improvements. Since its launch, the programme has gained strong momentum, and we are confident in achieving our goal of offering sustainability-linked financing to 300 SMEs within the next three years.
We view this as a long-term journey. Our focus is on delivering practical programmes and tools that empower SMEs to build resilience, unlock opportunities, and grow sustainably, together with us.
Singapore regulators have recently extended the timelines for implementing ISSB-aligned climate disclosure requirements. How will this impact OCBC’s transition efforts?
The recent announcement offers more time to SMEs, recognising the challenges SMEs face in balancing business priorities with additional compliance costs. A phased approach to reporting is both practical and necessary, especially for smaller firms. Notably, the timeline for Scope 1 and 2 emissions reporting remains unchanged for listed companies.
We continue to support SMEs through practical tools and initiatives that strengthen their sustainability disclosures and assessments.
As SMEs work on improving their Scope 1 and 2 disclosures, they will be better positioned to provide the necessary information for their buyers and partners, supporting their decarbonisation plans. The shift away from immediate Scope 3 disclosures allows for deeper focus on foundational data quality.
More broadly, this adjustment in reporting timelines does not affect our overall transition engagement efforts. Businesses across sectors have been facing significant changes, from shifting regulatory landscapes to evolving stakeholder expectations and technological disruption. Many have therefore already started decarbonising their operations, and we continue to see strong momentum and untapped potential in this space.
Our role remains clear: to help clients accelerate their transition by providing strategic advisory, innovative and practical financing solutions, and by fostering partnerships across the ecosystem to drive collective progress.
