SMU President Prof Lily Kong has been named Impact Leader of the Year in the Individual category at the 2025 Sustainability Impact Awards, organised by The Business Times and UOB. She is the only recipient from the education sector recognised this year, and one of two named Impact Leaders of the Year. The award honours her leadership in embedding sustainability across education, research, operations, and community life at SMU.
Speaking at the ceremony, Guest-of-Honour Minister for National Development Mr Chee Hong Tat reminded the audience of the long-term stakes: “We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children. If we think about the long-term impact of our actions today and the desire to leave a better future, our perspective will change.”
Echoing this call for collective action, UOB CEO Mr Wee Ee Cheong said: “Sustainability is about creating long-term value. It’s about making choices today that help both our communities and the environment thrive tomorrow. No one can do it alone — real change happens when governments, businesses and individuals work together.”
For Prof Kong, the seeds of sustainability were sown early. She recalls growing up in a household where thrift was second nature — tearing tissue paper in half to only use what was needed, and reusing bottles and clothes whenever possible. As a young geographer at university, she was deeply influenced by Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. These works sharpened her conviction that sustainability must go beyond technical fixes, to embrace values, culture, and an ethic of care.
That conviction has shaped her leadership at SMU. Even at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, she signalled that sustainability was non-negotiable by naming Sustainable Living one of the University’s three strategic priorities. From that commitment, the SMU Sustainability Blueprint was launched in 2022 — the first whole-of-community roadmap for greening the campus, advancing research, and cultivating resilient communities. This focus has since been carried forward into SMU2030, ensuring that sustainability remains a defining thread across education, research, operations, and community life.
Since then, the SMU community has achieved milestones to be proud of:
- Entire campus certified Green Mark Platinum, with one Zero Energy building and one Super Low Energy Building.
- 40% reduction in Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions in 2024 compared to the baseline year of 2006.
- 37% reduction in waste disposed per person in 2024 compared to the baseline year of 2019.
- 45% of undergraduates in AY2024/25 completed at least one credit-bearing sustainability course or its equivalent.
- Employees contributed over 1,500 volunteer hours to social and environmental causes in the past academic year.
Research platforms such as the Singapore Green Finance Centre and the SMU Urban Institute are shaping sustainable business practices and liveable cities in Asia. At the recent SMU City Dialogues Vienna, the University also launched the Global Alliance on Sustainable Urban Societies with partners including Boston University, London School of Economics, University of Melbourne, and University of Toronto, advancing collaboration on urban sustainability.
In her acceptance speech, Professor Kong saluted colleagues, students, and partners for aligning as “willing winds” to push sustainability forward. “At its best,” she said, “sustainability is an ethic, embedded in a way of life.”
Professor Kong’s award citation highlighted her emphasis on sustainable living as SMU President, including the establishment of the Singapore Green Finance Centre and the SMU Urban Institute, and her advocacy for mandatory sustainability education at the University, nurturing the next generation of green talent.
This year’s winners also included SMU alumnus Jeremy Lee, Founder and CEO of SimplyGood, who received the Individual Excellence Award for advancing sustainable household solutions and cutting single-use plastics. His recognition made the evening a double celebration for SMU.
This accolade for Professor Kong follows SMU’s recognition as Sustainability Institution of the Year at the 2024 International Green Gown Awards. It also builds on initiatives such as SMU’s $150 million sustainability bond, Asia’s first public sustainability bond by a university, which funds green buildings, scholarships, and community programmes.
Looking ahead, SMU is progressing on significant campus renewal projects that will embed higher green building standards, upgrade systems for real-time monitoring of energy and water use, and adopt sustainable cooling and ventilation designs. Sustainability courses will also be extended into the lifelong learning space, alongside regional training and collaborations.
Congratulations to our faculty, staff, students, and alumni — this award belongs to the whole SMU community. It is your commitment, creativity, and moral courage that have made this recognition possible.
For more information: https://sustainability.smu.edu.sg.
Media coverage:
The Straits Times : SMU president bags award for making sustainability part of university's DNA.
