Sustainability – a term that seems to have largely replaced "ESG" in wealth management vocabulary – is an area where there is a lot of talk. HSBC has examined the gap between this talk and strategy.

Singapore-based firms are among the most advanced in Asia for matching words with deeds when it comes to climate-related strategy, aka sustainability, a survey from HSBC has found.

However, the availability of funding is a barrier. Respondents in Singapore said funding is a major drag on acting (42 per cent), followed by high costs (38 per cent).

A survey of business leaders in Asia and other regions finds that in Singapore, 99 per cent of respondents said that sustainability is a business opportunity, and 83 per cent said it is already an area in which they are involved. Eight in 10 of them (84 per cent) have highlighted and implemented transition plans.

Some 41 per cent of businesses allocated more than 10 per cent of capital expenditure on climate-related investment – way ahead of 14 per cent doing so in Asia as a whole. 

β€œOn the ground, we are seeing many businesses in Singapore embed sustainability into their core strategy and day-to-day operations,” Ellis Savva, head of sustainable finance and transition, HSBC Singapore, said.