We are pleased to announce the launch of TPC (Tsao Pao Chee)’s inaugural Green & Social Financing Framework (“Framework”).

As a fourth-generation family business headquartered in Singapore, TPC is committed to advancing a Well-being Economy through purposeful enterprise and long-term stewardship. The Framework marks an important milestone in our sustainability journey, strengthening our ability to finance and mobilise capital towards projects and investments that contribute to measurable environmental and social outcomes.

The Framework establishes a consistent approach for evaluating eligible activities, managing financing proceeds and reporting on impact. It supports financing and refinancing across green and social categories spanning renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation, water management, circular economy solutions, access to essential services, employment generation and socioeconomic empowerment.

These categories reflect TPC’s six strategic areas of focus: Well-being, Climate & Nature, Energy Transition, Food Systems, Circular Economy and Human Construct.

The Framework was developed with UOB as Sustainability Advisor and is aligned with internationally recognised sustainable finance market standards, including the Green Loan Principles, Social Loan Principles, Green Bond Principles and Social Bond Principles.

It has also received a Second-Party Opinion from Sustainable Fitch, which assessed the Framework’s alignment with these principles as “Good” and recognised the positive environmental and social impact potential of its eligible project categories.

Through the Framework, we look forward to working with businesses, investors, financial institutions and other partners to advance opportunities that strengthen climate resilience, environmental stewardship and inclusive socioeconomic development across Asia.

Read Sustainable Fitch’s announcement on the Second-Party Opinion of the Framework here: https://www.sustainablefitch.com/corporate-finance/sustainable-fitch-spo-provided-for-tsao-pao-chees-green-social-financing-framework-08-09-2026)

The closing of AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026 marked a shift from conversation to action, bringing together partners across philanthropy, business, finance, academia and communities to advance practical pathways towards a Well-being Economy.

Over five days, AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026 explored what it means to build an economy that enables people, communities and the planet to flourish. The closing ceremony brought this ambition to life through a series of new partnerships, commitments and initiatives spanning nature, food, health, energy, youth employment and the blue economy.

Together, these collaborations reflect a shared belief that the interconnected challenges facing people and planet cannot be addressed in isolation. They require new forms of partnership, new approaches to capital, and the willingness to move from ideas and investment towards action on the ground.

From mobilising philanthropic capital for people and planet, to advancing new models for nature restoration, energy transition, ocean regeneration and youth employment, the announcements demonstrate how different forms of capital, knowledge and community can come together to create pathways towards lasting impact.

1. Growing the Impact Coalition: welcoming new partners for collective impact: NO.17 Foundation, in partnership with Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, and SecondMuse.
2. Learning for the Well-being Era: advancing responsible management education, with UN Global Compact PRME, TPC and OCTAVE Institute.
3. Impact as Legacy: moving business families from ownership to multi-generational stewardship: NO.17 Foundation and FBN enter a three-year strategic partnership to accelerate the FBN Impact Community.
4. Mobilising Capital for People and Planet: strategic partnership with UBS Optimus Foundation to mobilise capital for people and planet by unlocking family and philanthropic capital for well-being.
5. From Investment to Impact: launching the From Investment to Impact report with UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), charting how global investment can be redirected towards real-world outcomes.
6. A New Model for Asia: The Rockefeller Foundation, TPC and NO.17 Foundation join forces to explore cross-sector models for the interconnected challenges of land, food, health and energy across Asia, bringing together philanthropy, business, capital and communities to develop solutions that can reach lasting impact and scale.
7. From Research to Transformation: connecting research, business and implementation across the GBA and ASEAN: the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and TPC.
8. From Nature Restoration to Mutual Value: TPC, NO.17 Foundation, the Economics of Mutuality Foundation, Mutual Value Labs and SecondMuse build an East–West, place-based ecosystem model for nature restoration, shared prosperity and well-being.
9. Advancing Planetary Health: as a dimension of the Life Flourishing Index and urban transformation: Sunway Centre for Planetary Health and NO.17 Foundation.
10. Investing in the Energy Transition: Canopy (Tsao family) and Sun Group (Khemka family) collaborate to co-develop green investments for energy transition.
11. Building Consciousness for Well-being: TPC and The School of Positive Psychology (TSPP) collaborate to co-build initiatives and leadership labs focused on consciousness and a well-being economy.
12. Launch of the Oceans Track for the Liveability Challenge 2027: OCTAVE Capital sponsors The Liveability Challenge, building on the initial partnership between Temasek Foundation and NO.17, and launches a new Oceans Track to support innovative solutions for more liveable and sustainable cities.
13. Youth Employment Across Southeast Asia: The Standard Chartered Foundation, TPC and NO.17 join forces to explore cross-sector models for youth employment through innovative ocean and food-systems ventures.
14. From Exploration to Stewardship: advancing ocean science, exploration and international cooperation: Mission Neptune and TPC.
15. Mobilising Capital for Ocean Regeneration: building the Asia Ocean Fund through a strategic partnership between OCTAVE Capital, Katapult Ocean and the Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF).

Taken together, these announcements reflect the spirit of AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026: moving beyond individual initiatives to build the relationships, systems and infrastructure needed for a Well-being Economy.

For TPC, the work does not end with the close of IMPACT WEEK. The partnerships announced represent the beginning of longer-term journeys, bringing together capital, enterprise, philanthropy, knowledge and communities to test new models, learn from what works and translate shared ambition into action.

The opportunity ahead is to continue building an economy where people and planet are not considered separately from prosperity, but are at the heart of how prosperity is created. AT ONE IMPACT WEEK 2026 provides a platform for that work to continue, from love as an idea, to love as infrastructure, and ultimately, to impact in action.

The World Economic Forum’s central focus this year was the imperative task of “Rebuilding Trust”. I believe that businesses need to step up to rebuild trust and take the lead to create solutions to the sustainability challenges we face today. To do this, reform is needed to shift businesses’ focus to becoming purpose-led for-profit organizations.

The Emergence of the Marketing Economy has Led to a Deterioration of Ethics and Morality

In our supply-driven economy, an emphasis on capacity has shifted from being market-driven, that serves the market, to a marketing economy enslaved by materialism. This in turn has seen businesses maximize profits by unconsciously capitalizing on humanity’s greed and craving for luxury.

This model that benefits a select few at the expense of the majority, has exacerbated wealth gaps and reinforced a mindset of individual power over collective well-being—a separating and dualistic you or I model. And with greed and ignorance driving economic activities, ethics and morality have declined. This has weakened relationships throughout the social fabric, and is now threatening the sustainability of all life.

Family Business Is Uniquely Positioned to Lead Change in this New Era

Family business has more control over its future than big corporations. Conglomerates’ ultimate investor shareholders are often distanced from the business, through layers of fund managers, whose shareholders or stakeholders may yet be another fund, making it difficult for them to think about long-term investing. Return on investment is used as the measurement of success, and this shapes the behavior of businesses. Consequently, companies naturally focus on profit-maximization with shorter term horizons.

Family business on the other hand, especially multi-generation family business, is positioned to lead business reforms, and navigate this complex terrain, as it prioritizes succession, value and legacy, inherently long-term concepts with a direct connection to the future of the firm. However, as more family businesses have been consolidated into corporations, many have adopted shorter term investment outlooks managed through family offices. Despite this trend, family businesses still have a significant impact on global economic activities, as they contribute to about 70% of the global economy.

In the new era, family businesses can build a collective legacy – by collaborating and co- creating solutions to benefit humanity as a whole to build a well-being and flourishing economy. They must initiate business reforms, return ethics and morality to the forefront of corporate decisions and catalyze the shift in the market economy.

Family Business to Steward Ethical and Sustainable Practices

In this context, family businesses emerge not only as economic entities, but are also ideally positioned to take the lead in stewardship of ethical and sustainable practices. Legacy and wealth protection have long been what inform family business strategy and decisions, stemming from a unique blend of family and business – the practice of a relational approach. Family businesses are motivated and organized to pursue legacy orientated goals, enabling them to prioritize sustainable practices and long-term profitability over immediate financial returns.

Therefore, family businesses are inherently more aligned with a responsible and conscious market approach, where the focus is on preserving and enhancing well-being for future generations while also creating wealth. They embody stewardship, viewing their business not just as a means to an end but as a legacy to be nurtured and passed from generation to generation.

Family is the first place where we learn what love is and how to nurture and express it. This is naturally intertwined into family-run businesses, promoting a mindset that fosters a culture of care and responsibility, which in turn encourages practices that are inclusive, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible.

Family businesses’ success largely depends on maintaining a delicate systemic coherence with three roles: the family office to serve the well-being of the family, the family business to serve the well-being of society, and finally family philanthropy to serve the well-being of humanity.

It is this constant value-add to the system that has a positive impact on society at large and in turn holds the family together through a shared purpose and benefits.

Embrace ESG (Environment, Social & Governance) for Impact

Wealth that lacks a higher purpose can result in negative consequences, such as division, ignorance, and even conflict. The remedy for this is to embed purpose into wealth. Therefore, it is up to the family to decide how they want to influence their company to direct their wealth to improve the lives of not just themselves but the broader community, too. They should embrace long-term thinking and support ESG practices and impact investments to bring business ethics and morality back to the market economy.

There is increasing pressure on businesses, from the public and the private sectors, to account for their value and relevance in society. A threat to societal order has raised questions about businesses’ ethics, which technological developments have increased the transparency of unsustainable business practices, and society is taking them to task.

In the contemporary era, family businesses hold a collective legacy akin to that of humanity, embodying existential significance. Today, the invisible hand within the free-market system is naturally returning order to the system through ESG regulations and directing investment for impact and philanthropy. This has long been propagated by Adam Smith in his book, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, which calls for enlightened self-interest.

It is imperative that family businesses embrace long-term thinking and support ESG practices and impact investments to enact positive changes in business morality within the market economy. This shift is critical to trigger a reversal of the current social contract driven by greed to one that is led by love and care.

Contributed by Chavalit Frederick Tsao
March 2024

This article was originally produced for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 at Davos, Switzerland.

The urgent need to address climate change and accelerate a green transition, is imperative for our shared future, as indicated by the World Economic Forum’s New Nature Economy report that approximately $44 trillion of economic value generation – more than half of the world’s total GDP – is moderately or highly dependent on nature. 1 As a holistic system, we bear direct responsibility for the degradation of the natural world, and the recent GAEA Agora discussion at the Forum emphasized the importance of a nature-based solution.

In my opinion, considering the systemic nature of our world and the intricate interplay of ecological systems, it seems plausible that by addressing a major environmental challenge like climate change, nature may autonomously devise solutions for other interconnected issues.

It is important for global leaders, especially CEOs and corporate leaders, to appreciate the urgency of this green transition. However, we must also attend to our motivation and courage to act and contribute to the cause. Love for life is the impetus to act and have an impact on a sustainable green transition.

Motivation of the Driver Behind the Wheels of Green Transition

Global temperatures are likely to reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels between 2030 and 2052 if they continues to increase at the current rate, causing extreme and irreversible climate effects. 2 This is not a phenomenon for future generations to worry about, but an urgent situation calling for immediate action – a collective commitment for coordinated, systemic action. There are many conversations and movements at many levels and in multiple locations. However, a notable absence are conversations that discusses the motivation behind the green transition. In their absence, we risk green washing and depriving the transition the attention it truly deserves.

I would offer the analogy of the car and its driver. Policies, processes, technology are crucial, but they are tools similar to a car’s components. No matter how good the car, its’ performance is ultimately in the hands of the driver, who chooses how to act – when to engage the accelerator and how to navigate the journey. What propels the driver to speed into the uncharted future and what fuels their courage? In this analogy, finance is the fuel that propels the vehicle, while the motivation of the driver is analogous to love. The resultant outcome, akin to the vehicle’s trajectory, is contingent upon the quality of leadership exhibited in navigating towards sustainable change.

Love as the Catalyst for Change

Recent developments in quantum science brought about a paradigm shift that bridge the materialism of the external system with the spirituality of our internal world, and mark a significant departure from conventional perspectives. A journey into our internal world will shift how we see the world and what meaning we give it – opening up new possibilities and choices available to us. When we make different choices, we have new experiences. This sparks a shift of consciousness. As we find coherence between the two systems, the “I” becomes inseparable from the “we”, activating love from inside and allowing us to naturally care for the outer world.

It is in our nature to love, and when we see that the essence of everything is connected, we naturally seek connection and alignment. Essentially, we are relational creatures, and when we discover our true nature, all of our actions will be informed by love and care, helping us to contribute to solving the shared challenges of humanity. This is the green transition. Without love, there can be no care, and without care, there will be no connection and insufficient motivation to act to add value to the world.

Love is the core of well-being and the fuel for courage and leadership. It is important to instil awareness within our institutions, where the drive falls on the shoulders of their leadership, to step up to be CEOs of Love.

Philanthropy, is another expression of love. The word “philanthropy” comes from the Greek “philanthropia,” which simply means “love of humankind.” Philanthropy is not an institution or a cause for momentary gratification, but rather it is a culture, a way of living, a lifestyle. It is a commitment to living with compassion, a form of love in action. The time for transformative change is now, and each one of us can contribute by embracing love as the driving force for a greener, more sustainable world.

Start from Plant-Based Eating: A Tangible Change for All

Jane Goodall’s closing session at WEF 2024, was profoundly impactful, setting the stage for the discourse that followed. There is a tangible action we can individually undertake to add-value to a collective commitment – a transformative step toward a healthier future for both us and for the planet: the promotion of plant-based eating and a re-evaluation of our food system.

One noteworthy initiative is the adoption of a predominantly plant-based diet. Research indicates that shifting to a plant-based diet can have significant environmental benefits, including a 49% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions associated with meat and dairy production in agriculture. Additionally, this transition can mitigate biodiversity loss, with animal agriculture being a major driver of deforestation and species extinction, promising a more sustainable future for global food security. 3

It is practical and accessible to everyone – one small step for the individual and ONE BIG STEP for humanity and nature, marking a pivotal contribution to both personal well-being and the broader health of our Earth.

The call to action is clear – a demonstration of a holistic and systemic approach, rooted in love for life, is essential for accelerating the green transition. We need to disseminate this awareness to both institutions and households alike. Recognizing the interconnected elements, embracing the quantum reality, and acknowledging the role of internal motivation are pivotal.

It is time to start acting to truly make impact. It is time for actionable leadership, and the time is NOW!

Contributed by Chavalit Frederick Tsao
March 2024

1 World Economic Forum, Nature Risk Rising: Why the Crisis Engulfing Nature Matters for Business and the Economy. New Nature Economy series. 2020 Jan.

2 IPCC, 2018: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3-24. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157940.001.

3 Gibbs J, Cappuccio FP. Plant-Based Dietary Patterns for Human and Planetary Health. Nutrients. 2022 Apr 13;14(8):1614. doi: 10.3390/nu14081614.

This article was originally produced for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024 at Davos, Switzerland.