Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited

A pioneer sustainability practitioner for over 20 years, Esther has been instrumental in building up City Developments Limited’s sustainability leadership. Since 1995, she has been spearheading the company’s efforts in strategic sustainability integration, reporting, stakeholder engagement and green financing. She kick-started the company’s sustainability reporting journey with the publication of its first GRI-checked Sustainability Report in 2008 and has since expanded to the adoption of integrated approach using the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) framework.

CDL issued its maiden green bond in April 2017, which was also the first by a Singapore-listed company. In the same year, CDL became one of the first few Singapore companies to pledge their support to the Task Force for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations. In July 2018, CDL became the first real estate company in Singapore to have its carbon reduction targets assessed and validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which is fast becoming best practice among top global companies.

Esther sits on board several international and local sustainability organisations including the UNEP Finance Initiative Property Working Group; UNEP Sustainable Stock Exchange’s Green Finance Advisory Group, World Green Building Council Corporate Advisory Board, GRI Corporate Leadership Group for Integrated Reporting; Asia Pacific Real Estate Association Singapore Chapter Board and Global Compact Network Singapore Management Committee. Founder of the Women4Green Network, Esther is committed to engaging and empowering women to drive sustainability practices at home, at work or at play.