The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has signed a statement of intent with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) to collaborate on an initiative developing digital environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) worldwide.

The initiative, known as Project Savannah, aims to help simplify the ESG reporting process for MSMEs by leveraging on digital initiatives like MAS’ Project Greenprint, which was launched in December 2020 to harness innovation and technology to promote a green finance ecosystem in Singapore.

Project Savannah plans to generate ESG data credentials that can be housed in MSMEs’ legal entity identifier records. As a result, MSMEs will consequently be able to transmit verified entity information and key ESG data to their business partners, augmenting their ability to gain access to global financing and supply-chain opportunities.

At present, MSMEs face challenges, such as navigating a complex reporting landscape, due to the presence of multiple global standards and sectoral reporting frameworks, with many having insufficient resources and know-how to generate basic reports on their decarbonization and sustainability efforts.

The new collaboration, the MAS points out, will demonstrate the game-changing potential of technology in transforming the way MSMEs can tackle climate change while concurrently lowering reporting burdens and supporting financial inclusion.

“Project Greenprint was conceived by MAS as a public-private initiative to explore how technology could be harnessed to drive more seamless origination and access to sustainability-related data,” says Sopnendu Mohanty, the MAS’ chief fintech officer. “We are therefore pleased for Greenprint to collaborate with like-minded counterparts in UNDP and GLEIF to advance the goals of Project Savannah.”