Latest news with #Singapore-headquartered
Business Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Times
EMA grants conditional licence to RGE, TotalEnergies' Indonesian solar project for electricity import to Singapore
[SINGAPORE] The Energy Market Authority (EMA) on Friday (May 30) granted a conditional licence to Singa Renewables, a joint venture between RGE and TotalEnergies, to import 1 gigawatt (GW) of low-carbon electricity from Indonesia to Singapore. EMA chief executive Puah Kok Keong presented the licence to the joint venture. Eric Lombard, France's minister of the economy, finance and industry, attended the presentation. This was in conjunction with France President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to Singapore. Dr Tan See Leng, minister-in-charge of energy and science and technology, was also present. Imelda Tanoto, managing director at RGE, said the conditional licence was a key milestone, affirming its role in advancing the region's decarbonisation goals. This is the sixth electricity import project to be awarded a conditional licence, after EMA in September 2024 raised the low-carbon electricity import target to around 6 GW by 2035, up from the initial target of 4 GW announced in 2021. This is a part of Singapore's strategy to decarbonise the power sector. When the obligations in the conditional licences are fulfilled – which includes securing all necessary financing – EMA may subsequently issue the companies an electricity importer licence to commence construction and commercial operations. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 12.30 pm ESG Insights An exclusive weekly report on the latest environmental, social and governance issues. Sign Up Sign Up Singa Renewables, which aims to achieve commercial operations from 2029 onwards, received conditional approval from EMA in September 2024. Faith Gan, director of energy connections office at EMA, told The Business Times that the government would be open to more electricity imports beyond 6 GW as Singapore's energy demand grows beyond 2035. 'To date, EMA has granted 3 GW of conditional licences for electricity imports from Indonesia, as well as 4.35 GW of conditional approvals for electricity imports comprising 0.4 GW from Indonesia, 1 GW from Cambodia, 1.2 GW from Vietnam and 1.75 GW from Australia,' she added, highlighting different operational timelines for the projects. Gan noted that not all projects awarded conditional approvals or conditional licences will be implemented, as the importers make business decisions on whether to proceed with their plans, after more detailed analysis. EMA's Puah said: 'This (conditional) licence marks another step forward in our efforts to transform the power sector and deepen regional energy cooperation.' While electricity import projects help diversify Singapore's energy supply and reduce carbon emissions, they also bring in investment, create jobs and contribute to the growth of the clean energy sector in partner countries such as Indonesia, he added. Singapore-headquartered RGE and France's TotalEnergies on Wednesday also signed a co-investment agreement for a solar photovoltaic plant with integrated battery energy storage under Singa Renewables.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Fortis Open Offer: Daiichi Sankyo's 'misleading' statements continue to damage interests, says NTK
IHH Healthcare 's Singapore-headquartered indirect subsidiary Northern TK Venture Pte Ltd (NTK) on Thursday said Daiichi Sankyo's "misleading statements" concerning the Fortis Healthcare open offer continue to damage NTK's interests. Earlier this month, NTK had applied with the Tokyo District Court to amend its ongoing damages claim against Daiichi Sankyo, increasing it by almost tenfold to JPY 200 billion (approximately Rs 11,800 crore or USD 1.38 billion). The damages claim relates to IHH's open offer for Fortis Healthcare Ltd and Daiichi's actions that have obstructed its completion. Following this, Daiichi claimed in a statement on May 22 that the suspension of the public tender offer for Fortis Healthcare was under the instructions of the Supreme Court of India during enforcement procedures based on an arbitration ruling. Daiichi had said that NTK's claims that it interfered with the latter's open offer are without any merit, and are not sustainable. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Moose Approaches Girl At Bus Stop In Gabes - Watch What Happens Happy in Shape Undo "Since the case is pending at the Tokyo District Court, NTK will refrain from correcting inaccuracies in the statement, but NTK will continue to present the correct facts and pursue its claims before the Tokyo District Court to obtain reliefs, including recovery of damages from Daiichi Sankyo," IHH said in a media advisory on Thursday. NTK reiterated its earlier statement that its claims against Daiichi Sankyo are tort claims premised on Daiichi Sankyo's unlawful interference with NTK's trade or business, conspiracy of Daiichi Sankyo and other persons, malicious falsehood, and defamation, each under the applicable substantive laws. Live Events "This lawsuit pertains to NTK's claim at the Tokyo District Court for damages, among others, arising from alleged obstruction by Daiichi Sankyo of NTK's efforts to complete its open offers to acquire shares in Fortis Healthcare Limited and its step-down subsidiary, Fortis Malar Hospitals Limited," NTK had said in a media advisory earlier. According to NTK, while IHH was declared the successful bidder in a bid process run by FHL, it received preferential allotment of shares by FHL, triggering an Open Offer. While NTK attempted to execute the Open Offer, Daiichi Sankyo unfairly obstructed the execution of the Open Offer and prevented the completion of the acquisition, resulting in significant losses to NTK. As per NTK, Daiichi Sankyo obtained an ex parte interim status quo order from the Supreme Court of India without notifying IHH and NTK that it was seeking such an order against them. NTK said in its media advisory that the open offer for FHL could not progress due to Daiichi's actions. Daiichi Sankyo has been in dispute with the erstwhile promoters of Ranbaxy Limited (Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh) for recovering money from the damage caused by the acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories. While Daiichi Sankyo has instituted proceedings in the Delhi High Court and the Supreme Court against the Singh Brothers, IHH and NTK have stated that they have no connection with the duo. As per NTK, Daiichi Sankyo has speculated that the Singh Brothers were somehow connected to IHH. IHH has transformed Fortis into India's leading healthcare company with a network of 28 hospitals and 400 labs.
Nikkei Asia
3 days ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
Singaporean travel app Traveloka enters Japan market
TOKYO -- Traveloka, one of the leading travel booking apps in Southeast Asia, has launched services in Japan, hoping to expand its share of the growing intra-Asian tourism market. The Singapore-headquartered company, which now operates in eight countries in the region, said that growing numbers of Southeast Asians want to travel to Japan, just as more Japanese people are traveling to Southeast Asia.
GMA Network
3 days ago
- Business
- GMA Network
Hotel101 Global to develop 10,000 rooms in Saudi Arabia
Hotel101 Global Pte. Ltd., the Singapore-headquartered subsidiary of DoubleDragon Corp., has partnered with the Horizon Group to develop up to 10,000 rooms in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, expected to translate to a $2.5-billion or P137.5-billion project value. Under the partnership, the two parties have identified an initial five locations, with the first being in Medina, followed by Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha, and Alula, with an average of 500 rooms per site. This comes as Hotel101 adopted a global "one room" hotel chain, offering identical, standardized hotel rooms. It also has an asset-light "condotel" business model, designed to scale efficiently while maximizing value for unit owners and guests. "We see tremendous opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia given the high growth in tourism both domestic and international. We believe Saudi Arabia will be one of the most exciting markets for Hotel101 globally," Hotel101 chief executive officer Hannah Yulo-Luccini said in an emailed statement. "With Hotel101's rapid-build model and Horizon's local know-how, we will add 10,000 quality, affordable rooms across the Kingdom—supporting Vision 2030, creating Saudi jobs, and expanding options for pilgrims, tourists, and business travelers alike," Horizon Group chief executive officer Abdulrahman Sharbatly said. Saudi Arabia targets to reach 150 million tourists by 2030, after welcoming 27 million international tourists and 79 million domestic tourists in 2030, reaching a 100-million visitor mark. "We are inspired by the leaders of Saudi Arabia and their sheer determination and will power to make things happen, as such, we are confident in the plans they have laid out for the region and we believe the Hotel101 concept will be able to make a significant contribution in terms of room keys to complement the 2030 Vision for the Kingdom, and to form part of our global vision of 1 million Hotel 101 rooms worldwide," Hotel101 Global founder Edgar "Injap" Sia II said. Hotel101 officially filed its F-4 Registration Statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on February 1 (Philippine time), taking a key step toward its $2.3-billion Nasdaq listing. The firm entered a definitive merger agreement with JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. in April 2024, positioning DoubleDragon to become the first Filipino company with a subsidiary listed on Nasdaq. Hotel101's first three overseas projects are located in Niseko Hokkaido, Japan; Madrid, Spain; and Los Angeles, California, in the United States, which are set to jumpstart its expansion to other areas as it targets to accumulate a portfolio of 1 million rooms in 101 countries before 2050. It also seeks to expand in areas such as the United Kingdom (UK), the United Arab Emirates (UAE), India, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mexico, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Switzerland, Turkey, Italy, Germany, France, and China. — VDV, GMA Integrated News
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Shein's Climate Ambitions Have Been Validated. Now What?
'I am dubious,' Kenneth Pucker wrote—succinctly and pointedly—on LinkedIn on Tuesday. The Fletcher School at Tufts University professor of the practice was expressing his feelings about Shein, which revealed the same day that it had attained a 'milestone' in its 'climate journey' following the Science Based Targets initiative's validation of its goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. This means it would remove more carbon dioxide from the air than it would release. More from Sourcing Journal EU Watchdog Says Shein Violated Bloc's Consumer Laws H&M Foundation's 10 Global Change Award Winners Have One Thing in Common Who Benefited From Shein, Temu Troubles? The Chinese-founded e-tail Goliath said it will achieve this through a 'decarbonization roadmap,' developed with advisory firm Anthesis Group, to reduce its absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions—that is, those produced directly by Shein and the energy it purchases—by 42 percent and its absolute Scope 3 emissions—those produced by its suppliers—by 25 percent by 2030. Steps will include deploying only renewable energy at all directly managed facilities, phasing out fossil fuels in its operations by transitioning to electric vehicles, minimizing the adoption of virgin materials and cutting transportation distances by ramping up local procurement and optimizing logistical routes. 'SBTi's validation of our net-zero targets marks an important step in Shein's decarbonization journey,' Mustan Lalani, a Tetra Pak vet who joined the Singapore-headquartered company as its global head of sustainability in January, said in a statement. 'We are committed to reducing emissions across our value chain and recognize that addressing Scope 3 emissions is a complex but critical part of that effort. As we continue this work, we will build on our momentum and adapt our approach in line with evolving technologies, policies and industry best practices.' But Shein's planet-warming emissions have never declined year over year, Pucker noted. They have, in fact, nearly tripled over the past three years. In 2023, the Temu nemesis' carbon footprint swelled to 16.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, up 45 percent from the previous year and 175 percent from the year before that. The number outlaps not only the 16.4 million metric tons in emissions produced by Zara owner Inditex, fashion's previous top polluter, but also those of several countries. It wouldn't be hyperbole to say that Shein is the industry's biggest environmental offender. At best, Shein's plans are misleading because they focus on Scope 1 and 2 targets that account for less than 0.5 percent of its total emissions, said Rachel Kitchin, senior corporate climate campaigner at a Canadian watchdog group that ranks the ultra-fast-fashion purveyor last in its Fossil-Free Fashion Scorecard. At worst, its proposal is unattainable without severe changes to its production and distribution model, which is heavily reliant on coal-stoked power generation, high production volumes and extensive air freight, she said. 'We need to see Shein commit to concrete targets—with a goal to phase out on-site coal by 2030 and transition to renewable energy across supply chains—to take this plan seriously,' she said. 'Until the company stops flying millions of small packages around the world, commits to phasing out coal and actively supports a transition to renewable energy across its supply chain, we're deeply skeptical that this announcement is anything more than PR.' It's perhaps also worth noting that SBTi doesn't probe deeply into a company's underlying business model when reviewing a target, said Michael Sadowski, a climate and sustainability consultant and former Nike director of sustainable business and innovation. What the nonprofit looks at is the data shared voluntarily during target submissions to ensure that it meets the SBTi criteria. 'I don't have any inside info on Shein, and so observing their astronomical growth over the last decade, coupled with their business model, makes me question how they will reduce scope 3 emissions by 25 percent by 2030,' he said. 'I would like to see a detailed plan for how they will achieve this: Will they not ship individual packages by air? Will they fund renewable energy at suppliers or commit to long-term supplier relationships so these partners can invest in renewable energy? Will they invest in fuel switching at mills?' Sadowski said that fiber switching and 'supporting' manufacturers in transitioning to renewable energy alone won't help Shein reach 25 percent. He said he knows of only a 'small handful' of apparel and footwear brands that have reduced Scope 3 emissions on an absolute basis. They have done so only by investing a lot of money in manufacturers with which they have maintained longstanding relationships. Shein's announcement comes among rumors that it's pursuing a listing in Hong Kong after Chinese regulators, specifically the China Securities Regulatory Commission, failed to give it the go-ahead for a London IPO after Britain's Financial Conduct Authority greenlit the move. Unnamed sources told Reuters Wednesday that the company plans to go public in the special administrative region within the year. This would make it the third try at going public for Shein, which did not respond to a request for comment. Before its attempt in the United Kingdom, the Missguided owner was reportedly hoping for a New York debut. This was scuppered, it's been said, by a rare united front by Republican and Democratic lawmakers that threw conditions over concerns about China's influence and the potential forced labor of persecuted Muslim minorities. The retail giant has also had to grapple with questions of trustworthiness. Just this week, national consumer authorities in Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands joined the European Commission to ask Shein to fix practices on its platform that appear to flout EU consumer law, including what they say are 'giving false or deceptive information about the sustainability benefits of certain products.' In 2024, Italy's antitrust agency opened an investigation into a company that manages Shein's online presence in the country over possible greenwashing. Shein has said that it is ready to cooperate openly with authorities. 'If Shein delivers on its plan to grow approximately 25 percent over the near term, that would mean that the carbon intensity unit would have to fall by 85 percent to achieve their target,' said Pucker, still unconvinced. 'Will they achieve their plan?' On the plus side, Shein's disclosure of SBTi-approved emissions reduction targets, when more than half of 250 major fashion brands fail to do so, is commendable in and of itself, said Liv Simpliciano, policy and research manager at Fashion Revolution, a grassroots organization that scores companies on their transparency—or lack thereof. But it's also what she calls the bare minimum. So far, Shein hasn't divulged its supplier list or annual production volumes, which activists say are necessary to verify brand claims and hold them to account. And by her estimation, only four brands—Asics, H&M Group, Marks & Spencer and Patagonia—have carbon reduction targets that meet the level of ambition that the Paris Agreement has determined will stave off the worst effects of climate change. 'That being said, targets are only as meaningful as the action that follows,' she said. 'The fashion industry remains far off track from delivering the rapid, large-scale emissions cuts that climate science makes unequivocally clear are needed. The polluter pays principle must apply: those with the largest footprints carry the greatest responsibility to act. Targets and ambition levels must match pollution levels.' More than anything, Peter Ford, a decarbonization consultant who previously worked at H&M Group, thinks that Shein whiffed a chance to have reduction goals with real bite. He said that while all companies need to interrogate their carbon emissions and set targets to reduce them, it is especially imperative that any company whose Scope 3 emissions account for 'practically all of its existing contributions to global heating' set targets that are 'high enough to be impactful.' 'The announced targets for Shein are small, and not even close to aligning with current industry-standard goal of 50 percent reduction by 2030 that UNFCCC Fashion Charter signatories have committed to,' he said, using an acronym for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. 'Industry giants H&M Group and Inditex have SBTis that are even more ambitious, and I feel Shein has missed an opportunity to highlight that it clearly understands the role it currently plays in contributing to global heating—and demonstrate a commitment to meaningfully reduce it.'
