SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNANCE

Embedding sustainability at the highest level of governance allows CDL to maintain strategic oversight of ESG matters and drive long-term value creation. For over a decade, the Board Sustainability Committee (BSC) has provided steadfast leadership in steering CDL’s sustainability agenda, ensuring it is deeply integrated into our business strategy, investments, operations and projects.

The BSC has direct advisory supervision of the Group’s sustainability strategy and targets, including that of our key operating subsidiaries, namely M&C and CBM Pte Ltd. The BSC also oversees CDL’s sustainability strategy and is apprised of initiatives to address climate and sustainability-related risks and opportunities, sustainable investment plans, as well as sustainability reporting on material ESG issues, work plans, performance targets setting, tracking and reporting. This oversight also includes the materiality assessments, climate change scenario analyses and supply chain risk management studies. The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) reports directly to the BSC, which, as of 1 January 2026, comprises four independent directors as well as CDL’s Group CEO.

This reporting structure started in 2012, where the CDL Corporate Social Responsibility-Corporate Governance Committee was established to implement an integrated governance structure, ensuring commitment across all levels and functions. The Committee was renamed the BSC in 2016.

Two meetings are held annually, for the management to update the BSC on the Group’s sustainability plans and performance. In addition, we engage our BSC members on ESG focused events such as the annual Hong Leong-CDL Group Sustainability Forum. CDL’s CSO also communicates significant global and local ESG trends and practices via emails. The CDL Sustainability Quarterly Report posted online offers regular updates on CDL’s sustainability initiatives and interim Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) performance to the BSC, Sustainability Committee and external audience set under the CDL Future Value 2030 Sustainability Blueprint. For more details on the BSC’s roles and responsibilities for governance of climaterelated risks and opportunities, please refer to CDL’s Corporate Governance Report segment of the Annual Report 2025.

Sustainability does not work in silos in CDL. The Management Executive Committee (ExCo) and the senior management of all business units are well informed of the Company’s sustainability initiatives and progress towards ESG targets, achievements and challenges at monthly CDL senior management meetings. The Company’s sustainability governance and management are in line with or ahead of the best global practices and SGX RegCo’s mandate on climate disclosures and board supervision. To achieve effective integration of sustainability throughout the Company, the CSO chairs the Sustainability Committee, which comprises members across all business units.

Incorporating ESG issues into executive management goals and incentive schemes promotes greater recognition and accountability in our sustainability practices. Since 2015, the Company has established stronger linkages between employee and executive remuneration and our ESG performance. Performance indicators that are aligned with global standards such as ISO 26000, ISO 14001, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and others have been incorporated in the individual goals-setting of all employees, including the Company’s ExCo and senior management.

CDL links executive remuneration to sustainability through both the Short-Term Incentive (STI) and the Long-Term Incentive (LTI) frameworks to reinforce accountability for ESG outcomes alongside financial performance.

Under the STI, ESG forms a defined component of the balanced scorecard for ExCo members, with 30% of ExCo remuneration contingent on ESG performance, comprising 5% Environmental, 15% Social, and 10% Governance targets. The Environmental dimension focuses on sustainability initiatives linked to the Group’s Net-Zero Carbon roadmap, the Social dimension covers staff engagement, retention, and talent outcomes, and the Governance dimension measures enterprise risk management effectiveness as well as compliance and audit performance. These ESG indicators are supported by measurable KPIs that are cascaded to Heads of Department (HODs) who report to the ExCo. This ensures clear ownership and accountability at every level of the organisation, with performance assessed against Board approved annual targets.

From 2025, sustainability has also been embedded into the LTI, where the sustainability performance measure focuses on the progressive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions at Group level, aligned with the Net-Zero Carbon roadmap. This ensures that LTI outcomes are directly linked to the Company’s ability to deliver measurable decarbonisation progress, strengthening alignment between executive rewards, sustainability performance, and long-term shareholder value.

In March 2024, the Company convened our inaugural net-zero committee meeting, chaired by our Group Chief Financial Officer, Yiong Yim Ming. Comprising representatives from key business units, the committee, which meets bi-annually, was established to accelerate decarbonisation efforts of the Group’s portfolio by aligning net-zero targets with performance standards, cultivating a net-zero culture, and driving greater sustainable investment.

CDL Sustainability Governance Structure

CDL BOARD SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE MEMBERS

As at 1 Jan 2025

Chairman

  • Chan Swee Liang Carolina (Carol Fong)

    Independent Non-Executive Director BSC Chairwoman

    Ms Chan has more than 30 years of experience in investment banking and financial markets. Currently the Group Chief Executive Officer of CGS International Securities Singapore Pte. Ltd. (CGS International Securities), she is responsible for the overall management and financial performance of the CGS International Securities group’s equities business, a regional franchise covering Asia Pacific (ex-Japan), as well as offices in London and New York. Ms Chan is also an independent board member of Leukemia & Lymphoma Foundation.


Members

  • Sherman Kwek Eik Tse

    Executive Director
    Group Chief Executive Officer

    Appointed as an Executive Director of CDL on 15 May 2019, Mr Kwek has been the Group Chief Executive Officer since 1 January 2018 and concurrently holds the position of Executive Chairman of CDL China Limited. As at 4 January 2021, Mr Kwek has been appointed as Chairman of the Board Sustainability Committee.

    Mr Kwek has been a Council Member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI) since 2013. He was appointed by the SCCCI as the Chairman of the Youth Business Affairs Committee, which is tasked with promoting the Chinese entrepreneurial spirit, managing succession planning and nurturing future business leaders. Mr Kwek is also a member of the Council for Board Diversity (formerly known as the Diversity Action Committee initiated by the Singapore Exchange Limited) which advocates greater gender diversity on the boards of listed companies. In April 2019, he was appointed as a board member of the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), a statutory board that plays a key role in shaping the built environment in Singapore.

    He graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, majoring in Finance and Marketing with a minor in Psychology.


  • Chong Yoon Chou

    Independent Non-Executive Director


  • Ms Jennifer Duong Young

    Independent Non-Executive Director


  • Ms Wong Su Yen

    Independent Non-Executive Director


CDL’s Board of Directors is available on CDL’s corporate website.