Earth Day at SMU

Singapore, 14 March 2022 (Monday) – The Singapore Management University (SMU) has published a study, “A cross-country investigation of social image motivation and acceptance of lab-grown meat in Singapore and the United States” in the reputable peer-reviewed journal, Appetite.

The pandemic has made it clear that we need to be more adaptive. From the way our lifestyles are changing with the continuation of home-based work and learning, to long-term effects on the economy and expectations on accountability and personal autonomy, we must all learn how to adapt for us humans (and other living creatures) to survive into the future generations.

The United Nations 26th Annual Climate Change Conference COP26 wrapped up in November with the adoption of the Glasgow Climate Pact. Negotiated by over 200 countries, the new pact to reduce global warming reaffirms the Paris Agreement to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degrees Celsius, which translates into tougher national pollution policies across every sector, particularly those related to transportation and energy production.

“Green economy” and “green finance” are common buzzwords these days as the world faces a deluge of environmental crises. But what exactly is a green economy, and how do we navigate the web of ESG impact measurement?

Rising environmental problems and concurrent increase in public awareness have influenced the uptake of responsible investments in sustainable organisations. Referred to as impact investing, it generates a financial return, more specifically when accompanied by a disclosed intention to draw and measure social and environmental benefits. Taking into consideration the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors of investment products, investors may work towards achieving a portfolio that aligns with their goals and values.

Historically, big business and capitalism have been regarded as accelerators of climate change: From “the great smog of London” arising from the Industrial Revolution (powerfully depicted in Netflix series The Crown), to currently unsustainable livestock practices that—according to the United Nations—contribute 14.5 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activity.

More than just protecting trees, conservation is about managing disruptive human activities and avoiding the depletion of natural resources. Corporations are the key contributors to energy consumption, consuming 78% of the world’s energy and produce over 60% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, it is important that corporations, as main drivers of urbanisation are able to mitigate the effects of climate change through their actions.

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society Winston Chow explained the outsized risks and opportunities for coastal cities like Singapore in a warming world.

The latest report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) looks at the impacts, adaptation and vulnerabilities associated with the climate crisis, and we are three of the 270 scientists and researchers who wrote it. The document reports stark new findings on the way current global warming of 1.1℃ is impacting natural and human systems, and on how our ability to respond will be increasingly limited with every additional increment of warming.

The Dentons Rodyk Dialogue 2021 was held on 27 October this year. Organised in partnership with Singapore Management University (SMU)’s Centre for Commercial Law in Asia (CCLA), the hybrid event took place at SMU to a limited audience, along with over 750 live viewers tuning in virtually from more than 20 countries.

It has been six years since 196 countries signed the Paris Agreement to mitigate the effects of man-made climate change, and two since Greta Thunberg delivered her powerful speech at the UN Climate Change Action Summit. There’s no denying that worldwide sustainability efforts are imperative for maintaining a livable planet, but facts have shown that it is more an elusive dream than an attainable reality.

Sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) are not new in the commercial world.  These initiatives may have been motivated by profit seeking objectives in the past, however both the Covid pandemic and the climate crisis have triggered companies to take a serious look  at ESG investing today.  Sustainability has become the new cornerstone of the next era of our human civilisation, way of life and business.

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society Winston Chow, and a lead author in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report on Climate Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, discussed how extreme weather events point to an increasingly dangerous roulette game we play.

In a commentary, SMU Associate Professor of Science, Technology and Society Winston Chow – who is also a lead author for two urban chapters in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s Working Group II (WGI) assessment report due in February 2022 and a contributing author to the WG I report – explained why the recently released IPCC climate science report communicates the consequences of climate inaction better than previous ones. 

The term ‘Corporate Sustainability’ has increasingly become a business buzzword in recent years. Just what is it, and why is it important? While corporate growth and profitability are important, corporate sustainability recognises the need to pursue long-term growth that is achieved in harmony with people, the society and the environment. 

SMU has bagged the Business Leadership in Sustainability Award and the Building Project Leadership in Sustainability Award at the SGBC-BCA Leadership in Sustainability Awards.

The COVID-19 pandemic created an exponential rise in online shopping globally and locally.  Rachel Han (Lee Kong Chian School of Business and School of Social Sciences, Year 1), together with a friend (Rachel Lee, King’s College London) she met in a Telegram community during the circuit breaker observed huge amounts of packaging waste generated by the e-commerce boom.

The Internet-of-Things (IOT) has been driving radical technological advancements and transforming the traditional way of life into high tech lifestyles. From January till April, an SMU-X module, “Internet-of-Things: Technology and Applications” equipped students with state-of-the-art in Internet-of-Things technologies to enable them to conceptualise practical IoT systems to realise useful applications. 

Social sustainability is a concept that typically takes into consideration the impact of certain projects and interventions on communities, people, and society, that could be both directly and indirectly impacted. In its efforts to drive awareness of social sustainability, the Singapore Management University’s (SMU’s) Lien Centre for Social Innovation (LCSI) participated in the annual Zero Waste Bootcamp (ZWB) organised by Secondsguru, a Singapore-based social enterprise that focuses on creating environmental awareness.

To empower and support passionate youths to implement their innovative ideas to resolve municipal issues within their community, the Municipal Services Office (MSO) organised the “Love Our ‘Hood Youth Challenge” to transform their creative ideas into effective solutions that will create a better living environment for the community.

Jointly organised by City Developments Limited (CDL) and Global Compact Network Singapore (GCNS), the annual CDL-GCNS Young SDG Leaders Awards case competition offers young people a platform to champion sustainable development and SDG integration into business for positive change.

Two startups from Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Business Innovations Generator (BIG) incubation programme emerged as winners at the HSBC Swing for the Game Changers 2021 competition.

Singapore, 24 January 2022 (Monday) – The Singapore Management University’s (SMU) teaching case on sustainability scored a win at the Financial Times (FT) Responsible Business Education Awards 2022. SMU is the only Singaporean university to be acknowledged at this category of the Awards, which recognises the best teaching cases published in the past three years with sustainability and climate change as key learning objectives.