TOKYO - A digital platform launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will partner Ant International to provide a sustainability reporting solution for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the Asia-Pacific region.
The partnership between Greenprint, an environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting solution launched by MAS in November 2023, and Ant International, an affiliate of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group, was announced at a media briefing in Tokyo on March 25.
Greenprint executive director Lionel Wong said during the briefing that Greenprint, also known as Gprnt.ai, aims to harness technologies such as data integration and artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify the way that MSMEs do their ESG reporting.
He added: “We do that by tackling the base building block, which is MSMEs.”
Greenprint helps smaller businesses disclose their Scope 1 and 2 data on the understanding that it rolls up the value chain into larger firms’ Scope 3 emissions, which typically account for 70 per cent to 80 per cent of the larger firms’ total emissions.
Scope 1 emissions refer to greenhouse gases directly generated by a company’s activities, while Scope 2 emissions are generated from the company’s power consumption. Scope 3 emissions are generated along the supply chain as a result of the company’s activities.
The tie-up between Greenprint and Ant International is part of Programme Sirius, a new industry-led knowledge initiative supporting MSMEs operating on digital platforms to achieve their sustainability objectives.
The initiative aims to facilitate industry dialogues for partners to exchange sustainability ideas and best practices, which will help MSMEs in transitioning to a low-carbon economy and to access sustainability financing as well as tap new growth opportunities.
During the launch of Programme Sirius – which stands for Sustainability Innovation for Regenerative and Inclusive Purpose – in Tokyo on March 26, 13 industry partners from 11 economies announced their commitment to participate in it.
They included AlipayHK from Hong Kong, BigPay from Malaysia, and Anext Bank, a Singapore-incorporated digital wholesale bank serving SMEs in the region.
Ant International also announced a collaboration with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, to develop and promote a set of toolkits called the Digital Sustainability Impact Management Toolkits over the next two years.
These toolkits seek to enable MSMEs to adopt environmentally and socially friendly practices to improve their access to sustainable finance through digitalisation.
MAS chief fintech officer Sopnendu Mohanty noted in a statement on March 26 that the widespread adoption of digital wallets and payment solutions makes them a “key enabler” for helping smaller businesses begin their sustainability journeys.
He said: “Industry initiatives like Programme Sirius are important for the public and private sector to coordinate the tools, frameworks and technologies for smaller businesses to build their sustainability competencies as they transition into the green economy.”
Ant Group is an affiliate of Chinese e-commerce titan Alibaba. In September 2023, Ant Group unveiled its new office at Singapore’s Guoco Midtown in Beach Road, which serves as the headquarters for Ant International.
Ant International said then that it will increase its investments in the Republic in areas such as privacy-preserving computing and Web3 technologies.
