Raymond Cheung
Chartered Actuary · CRO · Board Adviser · Singapore
An ESG advisor in Singapore can mean many things, from sustainability report preparation to board-level governance advisory. Here is what ESG advisory means in practice, what different ESG advisors do, and what Singapore boards should expect from an engagement.
What Is ESG Advisory?
ESG advisory is specialist guidance provided to organisations on environmental, social and governance matters. In Singapore, the term covers a broad range: some ESG advisors help companies prepare sustainability reports under SGX disclosure requirements, others support boards with governance gap assessments, materiality analysis, and stakeholder engagement strategy. The scope of an ESG advisory engagement varies considerably by provider and mandate, which is why understanding what is and is not included matters before appointing one.
A genuinely useful ESG adviser to a Singapore board does something different from producing a well-structured sustainability report: they help the board challenge management's ESG framing, identify governance gaps the sustainability team cannot see from inside the function, and connect ESG risk to the capital allocation and strategic decisions the board is actually making. Singapore boards are now required under SGX's FY2026 sustainability reporting framework to provide a board statement on governance structures for sustainability, a requirement that is substantive, not boilerplate: directors need to be able to explain how material ESG factors were identified and how the board exercised oversight rather than simply ratified a management document. As a board adviser with actuarial training and experience advising MAS-regulated entities on risk governance, I approach ESG advisory from the governance layer, working for the board's benefit rather than for management's compliance function. Most ESG advisers in Singapore are valuable for what they are: sustainability reporting consultants. The question for a board is whether it also has someone whose job is to tell the board what the report is not saying.
There is nothing wrong with this as a compliance function. If the organisation needs to produce an SGX-compliant sustainability report, an adviser who understands ISSB standards, material factor mapping, and disclosure requirements is genuinely valuable. But from FY2026, Singapore boards are required to provide a board statement on their governance structures for sustainability. That requirement is substantive. It means the board needs to govern sustainability, not just disclose it. And most ESG advisory relationships are not set up to help boards do that.
The gap between sustainability reporting and sustainability governance
The ESG advisory market in Singapore has developed faster than the governance thinking behind it. There are now dozens of firms offering sustainability reporting services to listed companies. Many of them are excellent at what they do: helping management teams understand the ISSB standards, map their material ESG factors, and produce a disclosure that will satisfy SGX RegCo's requirements. That is a legitimate service. What it is not is board-level governance advice.
Advising a board is different from advising management. It requires being willing to tell a compensation committee that their ESG-linked performance targets are too weak to drive behaviour change. It means telling a board chair, in the board meeting, not in a quiet conversation afterwards,that the sustainability report describes a strategy the business is not actually pursuing. It means asking management's sustainability team difficult questions in front of the board, and making those questions legible to directors who are not sustainability specialists. Most reporting advisers are not set up to do this, and many are not inclined to.
“An ESG adviser who never says anything a Singapore board doesn't want to hear is not an adviser, they are a vendor.”
What I look for when assessing ESG advisory quality for boards
When organisations ask me to assess their ESG advisory arrangements, I look for a specific set of characteristics, not qualifications or framework expertise, but how the adviser actually functions in the boardroom.
- Does the adviser have a view, or only a framework? Frameworks are necessary but insufficient. A useful adviser can tell you which of the business's identified ESG risks they believe the board is underweighting, and why. If the adviser can only describe the framework, they are not advising the board.
- Does the adviser engage with the board directly, or only with management? If the relationship is primarily with the sustainability team, the board is receiving filtered information. The board's adviser should have a direct line to the board, not a managed briefing through the sustainability function.
- Is the adviser willing to disagree with management in the board meeting? This is rare. It is also the most important indicator of genuine usefulness. An adviser who only confirms that management is on track is not adding governance value.
- Does the adviser connect sustainability to the decisions the board is actually making, capital allocation, M&A, strategic planning,or do they operate in a separate sustainability track that never intersects with the main board agenda? If ESG exists in its own lane, it is a disclosure exercise, not a governance function.
Why the regulatory environment is raising the bar
Singapore's regulatory environment is escalating in a way that makes the governance gap increasingly visible. From FY2025, all SGX issuers report Scope 1 and 2 emissions. From FY2026, large-cap issuers add Scope 3. MAS's transition planning guidelines, published in March 2026 and effective September 2027,require insurers and financial institutions to demonstrate credible plans for managing climate-related transition risk. These are not disclosure requirements alone. They require the board to demonstrate that it oversees the organisation's sustainability strategy, not merely approves its reporting.
The practical consequence is that an ESG adviser whose value stops at the disclosure layer is becoming insufficient for Singapore boards. Institutional investors and proxy advisers are increasingly looking for evidence of genuine board engagement with sustainability, not just a well-formatted sustainability report. The SGX board governance statement requirement is one formal expression of this. The shareholder questions at AGMs are another. Boards that cannot demonstrate substantive engagement will face escalating pressure.
What a genuinely useful ESG adviser does differently
The most effective ESG advisers I have worked with or observed in Singapore share certain characteristics. They come with a point of view, not a framework, but a perspective on what matters most for the specific industry, regulatory environment, and strategic situation the board is navigating. They are willing to say that the organisation's greatest climate-related exposure is not the one currently in the sustainability report, because that is where management has already done the analytical work. The real risk is where nobody has looked yet.
They also understand the distinction between the board's job and management's job. Management produces the sustainability report. The board oversees whether management is managing sustainability risk appropriately. Those are not the same thing, and an adviser who conflates them is helping management with compliance, which is legitimate,but is not helping the board with governance, which is what the regulatory environment now requires.
If your board's ESG adviser is confirming that the sustainability report looks good, that is useful information. If they are not also telling you what the report reveals about where the business is genuinely exposed, and where the board's oversight of those exposures is still underdeveloped,then you have a reporting adviser. In Singapore's current environment, boards need both. But they especially need the second.
Common Questions
What does an ESG adviser do for a Singapore board?
A board-level ESG adviser helps directors understand the organisation's material sustainability risks, challenges the adequacy of management's sustainability governance, and connects ESG factors to the strategic decisions the board is making, capital allocation, M&A, strategic planning, and risk oversight. This is distinct from a sustainability reporting consultant, whose primary role is disclosure compliance with SGX or ISSB standards.
How do I assess whether my ESG adviser is useful to the board, not just to management?
The clearest indicator is whether the adviser is willing to disagree with management in front of the board, and whether they engage directly with the board's actual decisions rather than only with the sustainability team's reporting process. An adviser whose relationship is primarily with management is advising management, which may be valuable, but does not constitute board-level ESG governance advisory.
What ESG governance requirements apply to Singapore boards from FY2026?
From FY2026, SGX-listed companies must include a board statement on governance structures for sustainability practices in their sustainability report, issued alongside the annual report. Large-cap issuers must also report Scope 3 GHG emissions. MAS-regulated financial institutions face additional obligations under MAS's transition planning guidelines, with implementation required by September 2027. Both sets of requirements place substantive governance obligations on the board, not only disclosure obligations on management.
Is there a difference between an ESG consultant and an ESG adviser for Singapore boards?
In practice, yes. An ESG consultant typically helps management teams with sustainability reporting, framework compliance, and disclosure quality. An ESG adviser working at board level helps directors challenge management's ESG framing, identify governance gaps, and demonstrate credible oversight of sustainability risk. Singapore boards increasingly need the latter as SGX and MAS requirements shift from disclosure to governance accountability.
What is ESG advisory?
ESG advisory is guidance provided by specialists to organisations on environmental, social and governance matters. In Singapore, this ranges from sustainability report preparation to board-level governance advisory and materiality assessments. The scope varies by provider, so it is important to clarify what a specific ESG advisory engagement will cover before appointing an adviser.
What do ESG advisors do?
ESG advisors in Singapore typically provide some combination of the following: sustainability disclosure support under SGX requirements, board ESG governance advisory, ESG risk and materiality assessments, stakeholder engagement support, and climate-related financial disclosure preparation. Some advisors focus on a single area; others provide end-to-end support across the full ESG spectrum.
What ESG advice do Singapore boards need?
Singapore boards need ESG advice that is governance-focused, not just disclosure-focused. That means help understanding which ESG risks are material to the business, how to integrate ESG into strategy and risk oversight, what disclosure obligations apply and when, and how board committees should be structured to provide effective ESG oversight. Generic sustainability reporting support is a starting point, not a substitute for board-level ESG governance advisory.
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About the author
Raymond Cheung is a Chartered Actuary, C-suite executive and board adviser with more than 20 years of experience across Asia in risk management, insurance, ESG and corporate governance. He is the CEO of CER Consultancy and an accredited trainer at SMU Academy and the Singapore College of Insurance.