Dr. Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Republic of Indonesia, 

His Serene Highness Prince Max von und zu Liechtenstein, Chairman of LGT Group and founder of Lightrock.

Your Excellencies, 

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening. 

It is encouraging to see so many of you here – leaders from government, business, finance, technology, NGOs and the philanthropic community – joining the sustainability community at this gathering tonight.

In a world defined by volatility, uncertainty and accelerating change, convening those who can shape systems matters more than ever.

Today’s environment embodies a VUCA world we have not seen for decades. 

We have two major wars underway across critical geopolitical regions;

We have an evolving energy crisis which affects most countries globally – and if prolonged, will have a significant impact on global growth and perhaps even result in recessionary effects in many countries; 

We are undergoing a major revision of the international rules-based order, especially with respect to trade and globalisation;

We have the advent of the most profound technological advancement we have encountered that will have far-reaching geopolitical, policy, social, and economic implications – not just in the near term, but structurally for decades to come;

And, not least of all, we continue to face an existential climate crisis that will affect countries, economies, and future generations.

It is indeed a challenging environment for enterprises and long-term investors; but it is also one that creates opportunities for those who are able to stay resilient, disciplined, and forward-looking.

Tonight, I would like to speak candidly – about ambition, the realities we are operating in, and why, despite these realities, we at Temasek remain firmly committed to the climate transition for the long term.

A More Complex, Constrained and Fragmented World

It is a more complex, constrained and fragmented world.

When we started Ecosperity in 2014 – then in partnership with Goldman Sachs and the National University of Singapore – global momentum on climate action was building. 

There was broad recognition that climate change was urgent, that collective action was needed, and that emissions transcend borders – making international cooperation essential.  

The Paris Agreement signed in December 2015 was the result of this momentum.

Capital was relatively abundant. Interest rates were low. Global supply chains were largely stable.

The prevailing view was that while the transition would be challenging and costly, there would be a convergence of policy, innovation and capital that would help accelerate the reduction of carbon abatement costs – particularly in hard-to-abate sectors – that would allow us to have a chance to achieve net zero by 2050.

The Inflation Reduction Act of the US is one example of the trifecta of policy support, innovation and capital flows that supported this premise.

But today, the world has fundamentally changed.

The global energy transition has entered a far more complex and uncertain phase, with geopolitics reshaping markets. 

Recent events in the Gulf are a stark reminder that fossil fuel systems remain highly vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and supply disruptions. 

This makes the case for renewable energy even stronger – not just as a climate solution, but as a pathway to greater energy security, resilience, and long-term strategic competitiveness in a more volatile world, though it too has its own vulnerabilities.

Fiscal positions are tighter. Policy signals are less predictable. 

Generative AI has resulted in a significantly higher level of energy demand and has attracted massive amounts of capital that would otherwise be used for other purposes – including climate transition opportunities.

As a result, energy security and affordability are once again front and centre and energy security means going green too.

This is not a temporary disruption. 

It is the operating environment we are in – and one we must now base our planning on.

Temasek as a Generational Investor in a Volatile World

As a generational investor and a long-term owner of operating businesses, Temasek operates at the intersection of four increasingly interconnected spheres – geopolitics, business, energy, and technology – where shifts in one can quickly ripple across the others.

Navigating this complexity requires disciplined decision-making and a clear long-term lens, while at the same time addressing short-term volatility – whether with respect to markets or even policies;

And at the core of this approach is sustainability – not just defined by climate, but by the wider idea of sustainable business models. Sustainability is key to building a resilient, forward-looking portfolio, from Temasek's perspective.

And this is why we have just effected our first major change to our organisational structure in the past 15 years – setting up separate operating arms to deal with the differentiated strategies, outcomes and skillsets required to achieve our objectives of resilient and forward-looking portfolio and one which has sustainability at its core.

Energy and AI: Twin Systemic Transitions Compounding the Challenge 

Layered onto this already complex environment is another powerful force transforming the global system: artificial intelligence.

AI is reshaping economies and, in time, societies at extraordinary speed – and it is driving a surge in electricity demand, much of it from the demand for compute power. 

Over time, AI can be an innovation enabler of decarbonisation. 

It can help optimise energy systems, improve industrial efficiency, and speed up materials discovery – accelerating innovation in climate technology solutions at potentially lower cost over a shorter period.

But in the near term, it adds further complexity to an already difficult situation, and a difficult transition, as near and mid-term demand cannot be satisfied by renewable energy sources. Just in the United States, there are approximately 4,000 operational data centres and an estimated 3,000 under construction.

Currently, that is 4% of energy required in the US and this is due to triple in the next decade – based on the rate of construction of data centres.

This is the tension we must confront: AI can improve efficiency and sustainability – but it can also significantly increase emissions if not deployed in a calibrated manner. 

The Transition: Still Urgent, but Increasingly Complex and Non‑Linear

In the meantime, climate risks continue to intensify. 

Extreme heat, floods, and stronger storms are already disrupting lives, damaging infrastructure, and imposing significant economic costs – with long-lasting consequences.

What we are confronting today is a collision between long-term ambition and near-term constraints.

Volatile markets and higher financing costs impact the cost of capital and are slowing long-term investments. 

Fossil fuels remain entrenched in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement, power, aviation and shipping.

And global energy demand continues to rise.

Therefore, the transition will be far more uneven, contested and non-linear than previously anticipated. 

In many ways, our portfolio reflects the realities of the broader global economy – with exposure to hard-to-abate sectors where the technologies and solutions needed for decarbonisation are still not commercially scaled or economically viable today.

A More Constrained Path to 2030

This is the reality we at Temasek are confronting in our own climate journey.

Under current conditions – and given our portfolio exposure to hard-to-abate sectors – we are unlikely to meet our interim 2030 target to halve net portfolio emissions from 2010 levels.

This is not because we have stepped back from our net zero pathway.

What we committed to achieving come 2030 still serves as an important directional marker, befitting of our ambition and we will continue to press forward on every available lever, but our pace must reflect today’s realities.

In fact, since 2019, when we first set our climate targets, our portfolio emissions have declined by around 30%, while our portfolio carbon intensity has also improved – even as our overall portfolio value has grown.

But our prognosis is that by 2030, our overall emissions may not improve to enable us to achieve our target due to two primary factors: Exposure to Aviation, and exposure to Power Generation.

Aviation: Decarbonising Through Operational Efficiency and SAF

First, Aviation. Air travel continues to grow globally. 

And while aviation remains one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise, our focus has been engaging on real operational decarbonisation – not simply offsets.

Singapore Airlines, our portfolio company, today operates one of the world’s youngest and most fuel-efficient fleets.

Its average fleet age is seven years and nine months¹ – versus the global industry average of over 15 years.

Its next-generation passenger aircraft are expected to improve fuel efficiency by around 25%, while its new Airbus freighters are expected to improve fuel efficiency by around 40% relative to the aircraft they replace².

In cargo operations alone, the new freighters are expected to reduce emissions by about 400,000 tonnes annually.

At the same time, sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF, will be critical to aviation’s long-term decarbonisation pathway. 

Today, SAF accounts for less than 1% of global jet fuel supply and remains around two to five times more expensive than conventional jet fuel.³

This is why we believe a systems-level approach is required – spanning burden sharing, financing, regulations, infrastructure, supply, and off-take to allow decarbonisation in the aviation sector

Temasek has been working together to help catalyse SAF solutions and markets – from purchasing SAF credits that helps bring down the green premium in partnership with SIA, to investing in SAF through our respective platforms and subsidiaries. 

SIA is also taking concrete steps to accelerate SAF adoption – from piloting SAF on flights and building internal capabilities, to partnering with producers and ecosystem players to secure supply and help scale the market.

On 15^th May, there was an FT article on SIA increasing flights arising from the Gulf War disruption.

As a shareholder, we are, of course, pleased with this, but on the other hand, with our sustainability cap on, we lament the increase in the emissions arising from this. 

But if SIA does not do well, it will be debilitated from doing the right thing in terms of fleet renewal and SAF adoption.

Energy Transition: Balancing Reliability, Affordability and Decarbonisation

The second factor relates to the realities of the global energy transition.

Given the fast-growing global demand for energy and geopolitical volatility, countries are increasingly prioritising energy security, affordability, and grid stability alongside longer-term decarbonisation goals.

This is why we are supportive of Sembcorp Industries’ acquisition of Alinta Energy in Australia. 

Alinta’s diversified portfolio of power generation assets positions it well to support Australia’s energy transition. 

Renewables will drive decarbonisation and account for most future capacity growth. But during the transition, thermal baseload power will continue to play an important role in maintaining grid stability and affordability.

For example, Alinta’s coal plant currently supplies around 20% of Victoria’s electricity demand, while also providing the system stability needed to integrate more renewables into the grid.

At the same time, Alinta has a clear pathway towards a cleaner energy mix over time:

While its portfolio today still includes coal and gas, the direction of travel is firmly towards renewables and storage – supported by flexible gas capacity to maintain grid reliability as the transition progresses.

As a result, although Sembcorp’s emissions intensity may rise in the near term following the acquisition, it is expected to decline steadily over time – remaining aligned with its 2050 net zero ambition. 

Now, this is what a just transition looks like in practice.

The reality is that the world cannot transition overnight. 

A credible transition is not simply about shutting assets down quickly – it is about replacing them responsibly, while preserving energy security, affordability, and grid reliability along the way.

Continuing the Transition

As a long-term investor, we continue to pursue our climate ambition in three ways:

First, we deploy capital towards investments aligned with our Sustainable Living trend. 

As of 31 March 2025, I can’t yet disclose the numbers for 2026 but it is better – the portfolio value for our Sustainable Living investments reached S$46 billion⁴, or 11% of our portfolio value.

Over the past year, we have continued to build on the positive momentum in our capital deployment on this front, towards areas such as renewable energy, electrification, climate technologies, industrial decarbonisation, and energy resilience.

The most recent was when we joined the Wallenberg group of Sweden, in providing more capital to a portfolio company called Stegra, which is involved in the transition into green steel, with a view to make sure that there is adequate financing to achieve the goal set forth by the original business plan.

Second, we continue engaging our portfolio companies – particularly those in hard-to-abate sectors – to support their efforts to reduce emissions and improve carbon intensity over time.  

Third, we embed climate considerations directly into our investment decisions. We apply an internal carbon price – currently US$65 per tonne of CO2 equivalent – with a goal to reaching US$100 by 2030. We also link compensation to sustainability goals, supported by an integrated ESG framework embedded across our investment process.

Beyond our portfolio, we are also helping to close critical market gaps through platforms which are designed to accelerate climate solutions at scale.

For example, Decarbonization Partners, our joint venture with BlackRock, with a combined US$600 million in initial capital from the both of us to invest in growth-stage technologies that can accelerate decarbonisation across energy, industry, mobility, and materials.

And GenZero, our platform which we launched with an initial US$5 billion capital commitment, to focus on enabling real-world decarbonisation through transition financing, carbon markets, nature-based solutions, and climate infrastructure.

Through GenZero, Climate Impact X, and initiatives such as TRACTION, we also support high-integrity voluntary carbon markets, which are necessary for nature-based solutions and for addressing emissions in hard-to-abate sectors as well as emerging markets where the economics of transition remain challenging. 

Ultimately, the transition will not succeed through ambition alone. It will require scalable solutions, long-term capital, and disciplined execution in the real world.

Staying Committed: Ambition with Realism

This brings us to the central challenge before us: how to sustain climate ambition in a far more constrained world. 

That starts with addressing the green premium. 

Solutions must be scalable, financeable and deployable within credible timeframes, especially in emerging markets where affordability matters most. 

It also requires a fundamental shift in how the transition is financed.

Innovative financing structures are critical to better allocate risk and return across the capital stack.

Subsidies and concessional capital remain important – but are insufficient on their own. 

When deployed strategically, concessional capital can help de-risk projects and crowd in significantly larger pools of commercial and institutional capital – across both new green projects and the transition of existing systems.

Temasek has set aside $100 million to deploy as concessional capital for systematised climate financing structures.

One way this is being done is through the Green Investments Partnership, or GIP – under Singapore’s Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership blended finance initiative – which we have contributed to.

Managed by Pentagreen, our joint venture with HSBC, GIP has achieved its first close with US$510 million in committed capital, which will be deployed into sustainable infrastructure opportunities, including marginally bankable ones, across Southeast and South Asia where funding gaps are faced. It is the largest blended financing vehicle in Southeast Asia.

If you are here for the next few days, you will hear more announcements on this, so stay tuned.

This underscores a broader point: without scalable financing, even the most promising climate solutions will struggle to deploy.

Scaling the Transition – with Pragmatism and Commitment

Multiple Pathways, One Transition

We recognise that financing, by itself, is not enough. 

The transition will require multiple pathways – unfolding at different speeds across sectors, technologies, and markets.

As clean alternatives scale and become commercially viable, legacy assets can be progressively phased out.

In the end, sustaining the transition is not just about multiple pathways. It is also about long-term commitment – and the resolve to follow through, even when the path becomes harder.

Staying Front-Footed Through the Transition

As a generational investor, we remain fully committed to our climate targets, including the ambition of achieving net zero by 2050.

Timelines may evolve – but it is not about lowering ambition. 

It is about ensuring that we can follow through responsibly and sustainably over the long term.

In today’s constrained environment, we must remain front-footed – navigating near-term volatility while staying anchored to long-term outcomes. 

Nowhere is this balance more critical than in Asia – where energy demand is growing at its fastest pace, driven by China, India, and Southeast Asia.

According to the IEA, global electricity demand is expected to grow at least two-and-a-half times faster than overall energy demand through 2030.⁵

Much of this growth is concentrated in emerging economies, which account for nearly 80% of additional electricity consumption.

Yet many economies in Asia remain reliant on imported fossil fuels and are highly exposed to climate risks.

This sharpens the trade-offs between growth, energy security, affordability and decarbonisation.

Encouragingly, despite these trade-offs, we are seeing clear forward momentum in electrification and renewable energy, led by China and increasingly extending across emerging Asia.⁶

In this new reality, what matters is not perfection, but progress at scale – across real assets, real markets, and real-world impact.

Closing

So let me conclude, at last.

The world today is more complex, more constrained and more fragmented.

But the long‑term direction remains clear: we are moving towards a climate‑impacted future.

The journey will be harder and less linear – but it is one we must continue, because the cost of inaction is far higher.

To move forward, we must strengthen the systems that make real-world decarbonisation possible. 

In 1962, United States President John F. Kennedy said famously about the US’ ambition to land a man on the Moon: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one which we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”⁷

The quest for net zero by 2050 demands that same spirit of ambition and resolve.

It will require all of us – governments, businesses, financial institutions, philanthropic organisations, innovators, and societies – to contribute whatever resources we can spare, and whatever capabilities we possess, to build a better and more sustainable future.

Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, quoted a saying in a speech last month: “We don’t inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.”

Those words remind us what is truly at stake – the decisions we make now will shape not only our own future, but the future of generations to come.

That is why Ecosperity matters.

It is a platform for collective action and renewed commitment.

A place where all of us can come together to deepen dialogue, catalyse solutions, and mobilise capital at scale.

Because no single institution, market or technology can drive this transition alone.

We all must stay committed – and seek to translate the realism of today into optimism for tomorrow.

I am reminded that Temasek was founded back in 1974 in such a time as this; against the backdrop of two major wars, one of which was at our doorstop; an oil crisis, as well as rocketing inflation and cratering financial markets. We persevered and came out positively, as many others did as well.

So I would ask all of us to commit To Do Well, To Do Right and To Do Good – Doing Things Today with Tomorrow clearly on our Minds – So Every Generation Prospers.

Thank you, and I wish you all a fruitful Ecosperity Week ahead. 

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¹Singapore Airlines, Fourth Quarter FY2025/26 Financial Results, 2026

²Singapore Airlines, Sustainability Report FY2024/25, 2025

³S&P Global Commodity Insights, “Global SAF supply to slow in 2026 on high costs, policy issues: IATA”, 2025

⁴Made up of listed and unlisted investments aligned with the Sustainability Living trends, and excludes other assets and liabilities

⁵International Energy Agency (IEA), Electricity 2026 – Executive Summary, 2026

⁶Ember, Asia, Electricity Transition, 2026