Former MAS chief Ravi Menon appointed Singapore's first climate action ambassador

Mr Ravi Menon, the former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), will be the Republic’s first ambassador for climate action.

- Cheryl Tan

In this role, he will drive public-private partnerships with local stakeholders, in particular the business community, to help them contribute to global discourse on how to address climate challenges.

Mr Menon will also represent Singapore at international climate action platforms, the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) said on March 26. He will advise NCCS on whole-of-government climate policies and action.

His appointment as Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and senior adviser at NCCS will take effect from April 1.

The former MAS chief assumes the new role as financing becomes increasingly important at global climate negotiations, with more funding needed to help countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change.

NCCS said that as MAS managing director, Mr Menon helped to build a green finance ecosystem and support Singapore and Asia’s transition towards a low carbon future. 

For instance, he led efforts in building a blended finance platform – Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (Fast-P) – to address climate finance gaps and help channel more funding to green or transition projects in Asia. Historically, it has been difficult for such projects to raise capital because of issues such as lack of expertise in project development, and regulatory, political and foreign exchange risks.