MAS and Google Cloud launch Point Carbon Zero Programme

The programme aims to jumpstart climate fintech solutions in Asia.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Google Cloud have jointly launched the Point Carbon Zero Programme to drive the innovation, incubation and scaling of climate FinTech solutions in Asia. 

The programme is a collaboration under MAS’ Project Greenprint and seeks to use climate FinTech solutions to bolster financial sector access to accurate and granular climate-related data, for more efficient deployment of capital towards green and sustainable projects. 

Google Cloud plans to launch the world’s first open-source cloud platform dedicated to climate finance, which will facilitate the deployment of these climate FinTech solutions and their adoption by the financial sector.

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Under the program, fintech firms and solution providers will be invited to submit innovative technological solutions to address a range of climate finance problem statements co-crafted by stakeholders from the financial sector and the real economy. 100 solutions will be shortlisted for further development and tested with a pool of 1,000 financial institutions on their ability to facilitate capital flows towards green and sustainable projects in Asia. 

The Programme also aims to empower 10,000 multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises to set, track and achieve their sustainability targets. 

The key features of the programme include mentorships, funding, and data access to help hone the accuracy of participants’ solutions in measuring sectoral and corporate-level carbon emissions, as well as help participants track and manage their own carbon footprints.

Participants will be invited to deploy their solutions on Google Cloud’s newly-established open-source cloud platform dedicated to climate finance. Anchored in Singapore, the platform will enable FinTechs to collaborate with financial institutions to build, host, and scale climate FinTech solutions, using Google Cloud’s carbon-neutral infrastructure and data management capabilities. 

“Despite FinTech accounting for over 50% of all startup investments globally, climate FinTech remains a relatively nascent sub-segment. The programme, therefore, aims to catalyse the expected growth of climate FinTech solutions in Asia over the next three years,” MAS said.