The Government of Singapore has unveiled the Scaling Projects and Investments for Resilience in Asia (SPIRE Asia) Programme at the COP31 UN Climate Change Conference in Antalya, launching a regional initiative anchored by a blended finance fund targeting up to US$500 million.
Announced by Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment and Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations, SPIRE Asia addresses systemic funding shortages across Southeast Asia’s agri-food sector. Despite severe climate threats—including elevated temperatures, shifting precipitation patterns, and extreme weather disruptions—adaptation projects frequently fail to attract private capital due to small transaction scales, early-stage development risks, and data deficits.
Jointly developed by the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the initiative collaborates with Temasek Trust, the philanthropic arm of Temasek Holdings. A Steering Committee chaired by Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action, Ravi Menon, will coordinate the program.
The SPIRE Asia framework operates across three core pillars:
- Data platform: Integrates climate, agronomic, and investment data to identify risk factors, assess adaptation opportunities, and measure resilience outcomes. It features a new Solutions Centre for Regional Smallholder Farmers (SCS), led by EnterpriseSG and supported by Temasek Trust, designed to provide data insights for solution providers and investors.
- Market development facility: Led by Temasek Trust alongside regional and global partners, this facility identifies, develops, and aggregates early-stage agri-food adaptation concepts into bankable, investment-ready assets.
- Blended finance fund: Targets up to US$500 million to provide catalytic capital across the agri-food value chain, mitigating investment risks to crowd in commercial institutional capital.
The integrated platform serves as a pathfinder for private-sector adaptation investments across Southeast Asia, while creating opportunities for Singapore-based financial institutions, institutional investors, and agri-tech firms to scale solutions throughout the region.
