Google Cloud Establishes Advisory Board for Its Point Carbon Zero Programme
by Fintech News Singapore November 3, 2022Google Cloud has announced three key updates under the Point Carbon Zero Programme in today’s Singapore Fintech Festival 2022.
Jointly launched with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in July, the programme aims to catalyse the incubation and adoption of climate fintech solutions in Asia over the next three years.
The first update is the appointment of an Advisory Board to guide the Point Carbon Zero Programme’s ecosystem engagement strategy and initiatives, which comprises 12 senior executives from Chubb, DBS, Fidelity International, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, KPMG in Singapore, the National University of Singapore (NUS), OCBC, the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), Standard Chartered Bank, UOB, and XL Ventures.
The second update announces that the Climate Finance Accelerator is now open to climate fintech firms and startups to facilitate financial institutions’ adoption of these solutions to help multinational corporations (MNCs) as well as small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
The third and final update discusses the digital offerings related to carbon-neutral cloud infrastructure. Using Google Cloud’s carbon-neutral infrastructure and services, technology firms can now develop digital solutions to promote financial inclusion or sustainable development aligned with the Point Carbon Zero Programme.
In addition to that, in collaboration with MAS and KPMG in Singapore, the programme invites climate fintech companies to bring forward innovative solutions to address problem statements from stakeholders such as DBS, HSBC, OCBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, TDCX, and UOB.
Prizes for grabs include cloud computing credits of up to US$100,000 every year for two years under the Google for Startups Cloud Programme. Up to 15 finalists will be shortlisted by January 2023.
Climate fintech companies are encouraged to apply for the programme by December 3, 2022.
Dr Darian McBain
Dr. Darian McBain, MAS’ Special Advisor to the Point Carbon Zero Programme said,
“No one organization can solve a complex and constantly evolving challenge like climate change on its own.
Collaboration and partnerships are critical, whether it’s getting granular ESG data to understand problems that are unique to this region, or addressing problem statements on where and how sustainable finance can incentivise change.”
Sherie Ng
Sherie Ng, Country Director, Singapore and Malaysia of Google Cloud, and Chairperson of the Point Carbon Zero Programme Advisory Board said,
“Through the Point Carbon Zero Programme, we’re making a concerted effort to direct capital flows toward sustainability projects in Asia and deliver digitalization solutions that minimize – or reverse – this environmental impact.
Digital transformation and decarbonization can happen in tandem and at scale as congruent imperatives within every organisation.”
