Keppel on track to hit key emissions target ‘well ahead’ of 2050: CEO

[SINGAPORE] Asset manager Keppel is on track to achieve a key carbon emissions target “well ahead” of its 2050 deadline, chief executive Loh Chin Hua said in the company’s latest sustainability report released on Thursday (May 28).

The company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions have fallen by 87.6 per cent as at end-2025, compared with the 2020 baseline. The target – set five years ago – is to hit net-zero emissions on both scopes by 2050.

Scope 1 emissions refer to greenhouse gases released directly from sources that a company owns or controls, such as vehicles’ fuel use. Scope 2 emissions arise indirectly from the purchase of energy, heating and cooling.

Keppel’s Scope 1 emissions fell 97 per cent from 2020 to 2025, while its Scope 2 emissions were down 85 per cent.

The improvements come as Keppel steps up its green energy usage. The company derived 60.8 per cent of electricity used from renewables in 2025, up from 40.7 per cent the previous year. It ultimately aims for 100 per cent of electricity use to be from renewables by 2030.

Keppel has also expanded its portfolio of renewable energy projects to 4.7 gigawatts (GW), up from 3.8 GW as at end-2024. The target is to hit 7 GW by 2030.

Many countries are seeing more investments in clean energy and electric vehicles, as well as efforts to tap private finance to support carbon markets and decarbonisation, Loh noted in the report.

Rise in Scope 3 emissions

Keppel, however, recorded an 11.1 per cent rise in Scope 3 emissions – to 6.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent as at end-2025, from 6.03 million tonnes the previous year. Scope 3 emissions arise from activities in a company’s value chain, such as from suppliers’ facilities or employees’ commute.

The increase was mainly due to higher gas sales, as well as one-off accounting for the divestment of an office complex in India.

The majority of Keppel’s Scope 3 emissions relate to the sale and use of natural gas. This is especially since Singapore relies on natural gas for 95 per cent of its fuel mix for power generation. 

“As Singapore’s power grid decarbonises, we expect these Scope 3 emissions to reduce accordingly,” Keppel said in its report. 

The company is supporting Singapore’s energy transition by developing the Republic’s first hydrogen-compatible gas power plant and participating in projects to import clean power from the region.

Keppel further highlighted that it recorded 1.12 million tonnes in avoided emissions in 2025. This is from projects such as the waste-to-energy plant in Qatar and the upgrade of the Keppel Merlimau power plant in Singapore.

Such green efforts come amid challenging conditions, with the Middle East war pushing up energy prices and forcing governments to focus on securing fuel supplies. Singapore investment company Temasek recently announced that it is unlikely to meet its 2030 climate target.

Energy security challenges “have diverted the attention of many governments and companies from sustainability issues”, Loh noted in the report.

That said, Keppel views sustainability “not just through the lens of risk management, compliance or disclosure, but as key to how we create value”, he added.

Its other key sustainability projects include a study for Singapore’s first low-carbon ammonia power generation and bunkering solution on Jurong Island and the development of the Republic’s first floating data centre.