Eden Strategy Institute LLP

10/01/2025

Teamwork makes the dream work! After an intense 2024, Eden Strategy Institute LLP kicked off the new year with a retreat to Chiangmai this week.

We rafted down rivers, watched local birds in cloud forests, traipsed Thailand’s highest peak, leapt into freezing cold waterfalls, and trekked the forest with free-roaming rehabilitated elephants at an ethical sanctuary.

Our seniors also took turns to practice different leadership styles leading each segment, and learnt from a leadership expert.

Are you keen to adventure with this fun, tight-knit, and impact-focused strategy practice that is working hard to make the world a better place? We’re now in recruiting season so do tell us about yourself at [email protected]!

23/04/2024

We've been spreading our wings internationally, and last year leading integrated real estate developer Johor Land Berhad approached Eden Strategy Institute, LLP. to help them in their corporate strategy.

This was an opportunity to profoundly transform in and even knit closer relations with businesses in Singapore, so we jumped at the privilege of supporting Exponential Growth across JLand's teams to power the next phase of its success.

In a season of rising costs, we find the Organisation to be an especially helpful model that engages and leverages assets to break physical boundaries in achieving Massive Transformational Purpose.

Read about how this client story went: https://www.edenstrategyinstitute.com/portfolio/jland/

PS - Friends, do DM me if you have ideas or would like to contribute to tighter across the Straits. This is something we're continuing to work on and we can do a lot better than energy, space, talent, or grocery arbitrage.

CONTEXT

18/04/2024

Learn green skills and embark on a career in sustainability with Asia's first 𝑴𝒐𝒅𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝑴𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 Programme by SUTD Academy and Eden Strategy Institute.

Join the next generation of ESG professionals and sustainability leaders at https://bit.ly/SA_MMSustainability

18/04/2024

Eden was delighted to be back at PIER71 again to facilitate this year’s Maritime Innovation Workshop, working with Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore - MPA and industry leaders to validate our research on problem statements for the Smart Port Challenge 2024.

We explored how to improve situational awareness against both cyber and physical piracy attacks; improving ship connectivity; and protecting seafarer safety; and as before, took centre stage on everyone’s minds.

To decarbonise, ships need to better integrate their on-board systems, to understand the interaction effects of new hull designs, paint type, engine and fuel optimization, routes, load, sailing conditions, and so on.

Major shipping companies are experimenting with biofuels, hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and electric vessels. Each of these options have their advantages and limitations, and for electrification alone, we discussed new battery chemistries and battery technologies, modular battery designs and maritime electrification standards, improving charging rates, monitoring systems for battery health, robotic arms and auto-ballasting systems, and even floating charging stations and an idea for an intelligent “Google Sea” charging station network or marketplace.

It was heartening to see that while the sector could really benefit from more sustainable innovations, leading maritime companies are all actively planning for a greener, digital future. This event will soon be followed by hundreds of innovators who will be responding to our challenge statements starting 30th May 2024. Do point any changemakers you know working on these topics to us!

18/04/2024

Yesterday, we had the wonderful opportunity to join a panel organised by Capital Club Dubai, comprising global experts from Dubai, Germany, and the US, to discuss the latest global trends in corporate sustainability. Expertly-moderated by Harbinder Singh and Aruna Narayanan, each speaker brought a unique perspective that broadened my understanding and inspired fresh approaches to sustainability. As a quick summary:

Arun Kumar highlighted the evolution from awareness to implementation in sustainability, emphasizing how companies are already embedding sustainability as an integral part of business strategy. As a PE investor, he could see the increased expectations around stakeholder engagement, driven by growing regulatory requirements such as Singapore's climate-related disclosures even for private companies.

As a CFO and Sustainable Infrastructure expert, Karin Berardo discussed how companies are managing financial and non-financial risks by internalising externalities in their operating and financing models. She also shared how blended capital is increasingly drawing interest from for-profit and non-profit stakeholders with different revenue streams, deploying instruments such as debt, equity, philanthropic concessionary capital, guarantees, grants, and insurance to finance development projects.

Arun Kelshiker offered a capital markets perspective, sharing how asset managers are concerned about financial (double) materiality in their investment decisions. He stressed the pivotal role of technology, especially AI, in enhancing ESG data quality, and gave us a powerful reminder that as investors, we have a responsibility to invest in the kind of world we want to leave behind.

Eden Partner Calvin Chu discussed how although different sectors and countries may currently be uneven in their sustainability maturity, progressive companies are looking at sustainability as an opportunity for innovation and competitive differentiation. He also shared his observations of Singapore's approach towards corporate sustainability, which involves clear policy certainty and gradual timelines, balanced against inclusive and holistic business support, including forging new industries and transforming existing ones, co-creating with ecosystem partners, providing education, tools, standards, grants, and shining light on new business models and jobs.

As we reflect on the exchange, our key takeaway centers on how corporate sustainability must drive business value. It's clear that sustainability is not just a trend but a necessary evolution of how we conduct business. Engaging with nonprofits, embracing technology, and innovative financing are not just strategies but essential actions that align with our core values for a sustainable future. Let's all continue to push boundaries towards collective action and a profoundly better future.



Catch the replay at https://lnkd.in/gCjuBXkh

18/04/2024

Singapore’s Logistics sector, which enables over half of our GDP, is placed first in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index Global Rankings. However, globally 11% of carbon emissions stem from logistics services such as freight, ports, and warehousing. Customer expectations and regulatory pressure around sustainability are intensifying, and much remains to be done to help our logistics enterprises fend off climate-related risks, improve their performance, and transform their business and operating models to thrive in the green economy.

Eden Strategy Institute, LLP. has been working over the past few months on a study for the sector, and are really proud today to witness the launch of the Green Supply Chain Knowledge Hub and Logistics Sustainability Playbook!

Special thanks to Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Logistics Association, the dozens of companies we’ve been engaging with so far, and of course Eden consultants Kee Jing Ying Natasha Kristina Safafisalam Bohari Jaon Hans Albert German Muhammad Yunus for everyone’s tremendous work on this.

This first edition of the playbook provides guidelines on sustainability reporting for SMEs; stories of local companies that have successfully developed sustainable advantage; and many resources to support enterprises along their journeys, and is freely available for download at:

https://lnkd.in/e8xFwUuG

Kindy help spread the word to logistics firms who can benefit from this. Our work continues and we want to engage with as many logistics firms in SG as possible, so please point industry colleagues to us so they can participate in our study!

18/04/2024

A supports the C-suite and board in integrating goals with the overall financial strategy to create long-term value. CFOs oversee the identification, assessment, and mitigation of financial risks associated with sustainability topics; evaluate the viability of and financing sources; and communicate with regulators and investors about the financial implications of sustainability issues.

Last week, Eden spoke at an ESG panel with Oracle to address a room of CFOs at the DigitalCFO Asia Finance & Cloud Transformation Forum 2024. We surveyed them and with many still unfamiliar with ESG reporting, we offered four tips when asked to share good practices:

1. 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭. Companies are often advised to first map and engage with their stakeholders in performing a materiality assessment. I find it helpful to also develop sound understanding of the firm's operating context and degrees of freedom: Is the sector in expansive or defensive mode, tightly-regulated or highly-competitive? How does the firm's capital structure and balance sheet affect its ability to invest in sustainability? How much value chain leverage do they have to negotiate changes with stakeholders?

2. 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬. Companies are frequently asked their preference of reporting standard. This is increasingly less pertinent as standards converge; in practice, most companies anyway draw metrics from several frameworks. Instead, CFOs can help their companies focus on (i) Incentivising a culture that motivates all data owners to collect and sensemake sustainability data well; (ii) Leveraging enterprise tools to govern the flow of ‘live’, financial-grade data; and (iii) Harmonising meaningful sustainability performance metrics with other business metrics and commercial goals.

3. 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. Companies sometimes jump into energy efficiency or renewables investments without first assessing if purchased energy in fact makes up the most pressing source of emissions to address. Industries such as agri, cement, steel, or mining should instead prioritise efforts that reduce their direct emissions. Before investing heavily in sustainability, companies should first take inventory of their footprint to baseline their performance and prioritise their focus, in line with the carbon mitigation hierarchy. CFOs can help prioritise the sustainable investments that drive the most meaningful impact.

4. 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. Public climate commitments can be seen as progressive and bold, but CEOs that do this without first developing a realistic decarbonisation glidepath and carefully deliberating the financial, change management implications, and competitive response, find their organisations struggling to keep up later on. CFOs can support target-setting by assessing the techno-economic business case and trade-offs behind sustainability commitments.

Hope these are helpful! What lessons have you learnt in your sustainability journey?

18/04/2024

Eden was back at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy to have a chat about policy consulting with fellow esteemed panelists Aditi Raina from The World Bank, Brendan C. from Grab, Chris Malone from Dalberg, and Joycee Teodoro from Control Risks. Special thanks Anusuiya Dev Sarmah for the kind invitation.

We addressed many thought-provoking questions from this brilliant cohort, including trends and emerging domains in policy work; how to avoid disappointment should your work not get implemented or if policy winds change; as well as how building on your strengths and remaining flexible can help you find and achieve your career goals even in an uncertain job market.

We offered a 'Five-Step Networking Recipe' in response to a question on how international students can build new professional relationships:

1. Take inventory of your skills and aspirations to focus in on which country/region, functional expertise (e.g., infrastructure, water), and agency (e.g., national/local government unit, multilateral development finance, non-profit) you'd like to work in.

2. Based on this, use Linkedin (or speaker rosters) to identify the top 50-100 individuals that could be relevant to you in this field.

3. Invest the effort to study their sectors, organisations, past reports, social media posts, topics they've spoken on that they're passionate about, competitor websites, associations they're a part of, etc. Set up Google Alerts on key terms. (The exact phrase I used was to "stalk" them professionally 🕵‍♀️)

4. Start reaching out to them with something of value, which could be an article, an upcoming event they might be interested in, or an interesting report you came across relevant to what they're doing. Create an opening for coffee or lunch, while being cautious that many of them may have very tight schedules. Get into their orbit by joining a committee they're a part of, or proactively offering to do some pro bono work that could be in line with their interests. Start creating a long-term relationship with them, without being in a rush to 'close' a transaction (e.g., nab an offical 'mentor' role or an internship/job offer). Don't be easily disappointed if they don't respond immediately, and keep making the efforts regularly until they tell you to stop!

5. Through this process, broadlist and then zoom in on a couple of good bosses, supervisors, or mentors who are genuinely keen to see you succeed, willing to champion you on an ongoing basis, and bring you into his/her circles. Don't be overly concerned about reciprocating their sponsorship/friendship directly; many of these folks already gain intrinsic joy from just paying it forward to someone they like that they might see something of themselves in.

Hope this is also of service to our friends here on Facebook! What other ways have you found to be helpful to build and nurture relationships?

26/02/2024

Eden Strategy Institute is Asia’s leader in business system innovation.

Our distinctive approach to sustainable advantage helps leading global corporations, governments, and non-profit organisations develop new growth platforms, operations, products, and services that achieve sustainable impact.

We are recruiting fresh graduates as full-time Strategy Consultants for our Singapore office.

Candidates will be working with colleagues from our head office in Singapore on local and international consulting projects.

Successful candidates will work across a wide range of industries and gain regional exposure, with responsibilities that include data analytics, research, analysis, design, prototyping, strategy development, and advisory.

We offer structured career development, a collegial team environment, and the opportunity to make your mark in industry and society.

We are seeking candidates:

* With a strong interest to gain hands-on experience in sustainability, management consulting, business research, data analysis, and innovation

* Qualifed with a degree in any discipline

* Who are graduating or may have recently graduated with strong academic achievement

* With mastery of spoken and written English and ideally other Asian languages

* Who have deep passion to help clients create sustainable societal and business impact

* With excellent interpersonal and presentation skills, leadership potential, eagerness to learn, and an uncompromising work ethic

Interested candidates do send us a detailed Statement of your Personal Purpose, CV, and expected remuneration to [email protected] by 22 Mar 2024. We look forward to hearing from you!

The newest government initiative to help Singaporeans with a smarter way to find jobs. You can now search for jobs based on your skills, discover suitable jobs you might not have considered before, or find jobs with government support.

04/11/2023

Consultants on the beach! 😎

02/10/2023

Has your organisation decided to invest in decarbonisation, but find it challenging to optimise for the right mix of grants, green bonds, or sustainability-linked notes?

We're very pleased to announce that Mili Fomicov, Head of Clean Energy Research at Imperial College London and Co-director of Singapore Green Finance Centre's Climate Risk Academy will be joining us in person as faculty in our upcoming ModularMaster in Sustainability Programme at SUTD Academy. She will be teaching the Sustainable Finance course, which is targeted at helping corporate sustainability leaders understand the financial implications of various ESG factors, navigate various instruments, improve their ESG ratings, and even partner with related solutions.

We're also now offering the option of a new course structure of one class day a week for five weeks. Do join us at bit.ly/SA_MMSustainability

13/09/2023

Chief Sustainability Officers are often the spokespersons championing their organisation's purpose, risks, and safeguards. This requires substantive technical sustainability knowledge, deep stakeholder engagement, and ethical frameworks to avoid .

We've scouted the world for expertise in Strategic Communications for , and are delighted to welcome specialist ESG and Advisory firm ReGen Strategic from Australia as faculty in our SUTD Academy ModularMasters in Sustainability Programme to teach international good sustainability practices in internal comms, PR, crisis comms, community engagement, and investor relations. In this video, Daniel Smith and Colin Davies give a glimpse of their approach to stakeholder engagement.

We are closing registration for the first course this week. Register for the full ModularMasters Programme now to learn directly from ReGen and many other experts at bit.ly/SA_MMSustainability.

You can also join us for just the Driving Sustainable Transformation course at: https://lnkd.in/gy4bVafc