DBS Group Holdings Ltd

Annual Report 2024

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Creating an impactful Future
for society

Our roots as the Development Bank of Singapore have made purpose a part of our DNA. Be it partnering our clients in transitioning to lower-carbon business models or uplifting vulnerable communities, we are committed to making an enduring and meaningful impact for a better world. 

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1

Enabling Asia’s decarbonisation journey

We grew our sustainable financing commitments, net of repayments, to SGD 89 billion. Highlights included a green loan issued under the People’s Bank of China’s Carbon Emission Reduction Facility – the first such transaction by a Southeast Asian bank. We also structured Indonesia’s first blended project in the water sector, which involved the development of a treatment plant which will deliver fresh water to two million people across three cities including Jakarta.

2

Supporting SMEs in their sustainability efforts

We partnered Enterprise Singapore to launch the ESG Ready Programme, an end-to-end programme to help SMEs and mid-sized corporations build capability and capacity in sustainability. To date, over 250 companies have registered for the programme. We have since replicated this programme in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, we worked with Link and CLP Power on a programme to help Link’s SME tenants transition to lower-carbon operations.

3

Catalysing efforts to support vulnerable communities in Asia

DBS Foundation turned 10 in 2024. Since its establishment a decade ago, the Foundation has supported 161 Businesses for Impact and forged 37 community programmes across the region. In 2024, it committed over SGD 100 million to support 16 new multi-year programmes with partners and 22 Businesses for Impact to meet essential needs and foster inclusion across Asia.

4

Tackling the challenge of ageing societies in Asia

With many markets in Asia fast becoming super-aged societies, we launched a new Impact Beyond Award to scale innovative solutions which address this challenge. Our inaugural DBS Foundation Impact Beyond Summit also brought together businesses, longevity experts and the social sector to redefine the ageing narrative and unlock socio-economic opportunities for ageing populations.

5

Bolstering financial, digital and anti-scam literacy efforts

Together with the DBS Foundation and ecosystem partners such as the Infocomm Media Development Authority in Singapore, our employees reached out to more than 90,000 people through interactive workshops in schools and heartland communities in Singapore. These sessions imparted practical, hands-on digital and financial knowledge including that on fraud prevention.

6

Ramping up employee volunteerism regionally

From championing financial and digital inclusion for vulnerable communities to improving access to essential needs, our employees collectively contributed over 270,000 hours through our People of Purpose employee volunteerism movement. Our efforts impacted more than 220,000 lives across our markets. All in, we expect our employees to volunteer 1.5 million hours over the next decade to give back to society.