We are raising the level of professionalism of family wealth advisers by partnering institutes of higher learning to develop and provide customised training. We are also strengthening networks between family offices in Singapore, to facilitate mutual learning and joint investments. Feeling Well: Investing for Sustainability amidst Climate Change Finally, feeling well – or investing to align with personal or corporate values, to make a positive impact, to support a larger social purpose. A growing number of investors are looking at investment through the lens of environmental sustainability – both with a view to managing climate-related risks as well as to support efforts to reduce carbon emissions. From a risk perspective, climate change can impact investments over the long term, either directly or indirectly. Weather and climate-related events can potentially result in direct investment losses. Extreme weather events like floods can impair asset values, at least in the short-term. Changing climactic conditions – like rising sea levels – can have much more lasting effects on the value of exposed assets. Dealing with catastrophic events is not new to financial markets. And not all catastrophic events can be attributed to climate change. But the frequency and intensity of natural catastrophes are increasing. According to the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), the number of catastrophic events in the Asia Pacific rose from an average of 44 annually in the 1970s to 126 in the early 2010s. Investors cannot ignore the implications of climate change.
We must now make our financial sector, asset markets, and investment landscape conducive to sustainability. MAS is working on a comprehensive, long-term strategy to make sustainable finance a defining feature of Singapore’s role as an international financial centre, just as wealth management and FinTech have become. We have made some early moves to promote sustainable investing and mobilise private capital for environmentally-friendly projects. The introduction of the Green Bond Grant scheme two years ago is an example. The grant aims to level costs associated with issuing a green bond versus that of a conventional bond and to promote the adoption of internationally accepted standards on sustainability. To-date, some $ billion worth of green bonds has been issued here by local and foreign companies. 6/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  This year, MAS expanded the Green Bond Grant Scheme to include social and sustainability bonds. The grant is now renamed as the Sustainable Bond Grant Scheme. We also lowered the minimum issuance size requirement for the scheme, which will allow more qualifying issuers to gain access to the grant. But there is much more to do, to make Singapore one of the premier global centres for sustainable investing. Let me quickly cite two priorities. First, enhancing the disclosure of climate-related risks and opportunities. This is necessary to enable investors to channel their funds to sustainable enterprises and projects. The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has introduced the comply-or-explain sustainability reporting requirement for listed companies in 2016. Second, building industry expertise in sustainable finance.