THE Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) will set aside S$35 million over the next three years to support the development of sustainable-finance talent in the city-state’s financial sector. This money will come from the financial sector development fund, and it will partly be used to support the expansion of sustainable finance courses accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF), as well as capacity-building efforts at universities.

In addition, MAS and IBF have developed a report charting the impact of sustainability trends on the financial sector amid the global push towards addressing the climate crisis, as well as the emerging skills needed by the sector to meet the region’s growing demand for sustainable financing.

The report, put together by KPMG, found that between 4,000 and 5,000 jobs related to sustainable finance are expected to be created in Singapore over the next 10 years.

A number of these jobs will come from financial institutions in the banking, asset management and insurance sectors. They have to ramp up resources in existing job roles that will likely undergo moderate to high-degree changes, as new tasks relating to sustainable finance are added to these existing roles.

The report estimated that more than half the existing job roles in the sector, now held by more than 50,000 professionals, will undergo change in the next three years. These roles span various functions, from risk management to product solutions.

The report highlighted 20 job roles that should be prioritised for upskilling. These include relationship managers in corporate banking and portfolio managers.

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New job roles will be created revolving around sustainability risk and strategy to provide specialised technical knowledge and expertise. These roles will become more prevalent as financial institutions increasingly prioritise sustainability as a core business strategy for their organisations, the report said.

Greater sustainable financing needs

The demand for these new jobs comes from growing sustainable-financing needs in South-east Asia.

The region is projected to require between S$4 trillion and S$5 trillion in sustainable financing over the next 10 years, as governments undertake major structural programmes to reduce carbon emissions and meet net-zero targets.

This transition to a low-carbon economy cuts across sectors ranging from energy, construction and real estate to transport, manufacturing and agriculture.

The report said: “The potential for Singapore to capture a greater market share of Asean’s sustainable financing demand, particularly in areas such as carbon markets, blended finance and financing for transition activities, gives further upside to the estimated job growth.”

Announcing these initiatives on Wednesday (Apr 17) on the sidelines of the Ecosperity sustainability conference, MAS board member Alvin Tan said all stakeholders need to work together to equip Singapore’s workforce with sustainable-finance capabilities.

“Most critically, we need financial institutions to invest in continuously upskilling their staff as an organisational need,” said Tan, who is also Minister of State for Trade and Industry.

To meet this skill shortage, IBF will roll out an industry benchmark that recognises individuals for acquiring sustainable-finance skills.

The universities will also develop two undergraduate programmes on sustainable finance, and training providers will launch 65 courses this year.