Temasek Trust has expanded its partnership with The Earthshot Prize (TEP), an ambitious global platform that showcases and scales innovative solutions to repair and restore our planet.

As a TEP Founding Partner, Temasek Trust and the Prize will collaborate to spotlight Asia in the fight against climate change. Working together with other like-minded TEP partners, Temasek Trust will create the platforms, infrastructure, and community-building initiatives to showcase and scale regional solutions for a more sustainable tomorrow. 

Ms. Hannah Jones, CEO, The Earthshot Prize, and Mr. Desmond Kuek, CEO, Temasek Trust, at the announcement of the expanded TEP-Temasek Trust partnership in November 2023, ahead of Earthshot Week in Singapore.

Mr. Desmond Kuek, CEO, Temasek Trust, said: “Our multi-year collaboration with The Earthshot Prize is rooted in a shared bias for action and ambition in catalysing innovative solutions at scale to repair our planet.”

Ms. Hannah Jones, CEO, The Earthshot Prize, noted that the evolution of their partnership with Temasek Trust “underscores the Prize’s determination to expand the impact of our work in Asia, spotlight and elevate the incredible climate innovations across the region, and cement the Prize’s legacy in Singapore and beyond”.

Asia: Crucial in the Fight Against Climate Change

Solving for the world’s climate challenges must involve solving for Asia. 

Asia accounts for over half of the world’s population and its global carbon emissions. Temperatures are projected to rise twice as fast in Asia than the global average, with profound consequences on island and coastal communities vulnerable to climate-related natural disasters.

If natural habitats and biodiversity continue to be eroded, an estimated 42% of all Southeast Asian species could be lost by the end of this century, with at least half of these being global extinctions.  

However, there is also cause for optimism. Asia accounts for ~45% of the global economy’s gross domestic product (GDP) and there has also been a corresponding rise in philanthropic potential. A growing pool of Asian philanthropists can be engaged in new and innovative ways of giving. About 35% of Asia’s wealth will be in the hands of millennials in the region by 2030.

“We sense a growing desire to do more, do better, be bolder, and to work together to bring about change,” said Mr. Kuek in his opening remarks at TEP’s Global Alliance Forum in Singapore.

Mr. Kuek delivering his opening remarks at the Global Alliance Forum, which was attended by ~200 participants, including Founding Partners, Strategic Partners, Global Alliance Members, and the Prize’s 2023 Finalists.

He also pointed to the many groundbreaking, high-impact innovations in Asia which need to be showcased and scaled globally to accelerate positive change. “Temasek Trust is committed to creating the platforms and infrastructure for this,” Mr. Kuek added.

An Ecosystem Approach to Showcase and Scale Regional Solutions

As a Founding Partner, Temasek Trust brings significant experience and reach to amplify the Prize’s impact in Asia. Of the many ways that both organisations will draw synergy, Mr. Kuek highlighted two in his remarks at the Global Alliance Forum:

1. Philanthropy Asia Alliance: TEP will support and draw on the convening power and regional expertise of Temasek Trust’s Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) — a platform of like-minded donors, partners, and experts to prime Asia for good.   

2. Co-Axis: Temasek Trust’s digital impact marketplace, supported by DBS Foundation and other industry partners, will connect eco-innovators and impact-focused projects with impact-driven funders. Temasek Trust and TEP have been exchanging insights and experiences on the construction of Co-Axis and Launchpad, TEP’s digital platform to accelerate solutions to scale. Together, both organisations will help to unlock and potentially blend liquidity across the entire spectrum of capital, to support and scale impact start-ups.

As part of Earthshot Week in Singapore, the Global Alliance Forum consisted of a plenary session with key announcements, and a networking reception with the Prize’s 2023 finalists.

Such an ecosystem approach will give innovative solutions tackling our most urgent climate and environmental challenges – like those of the TEP finalists – a fighting chance to bring their ideas to fruition. Learn more about the TEP winners’ and finalists’ transformative solutions here. 

For highlights of Earthshot Week, click here. For the latest updates on the Temasek Trust ecosystem, follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.