While awareness of sustainability is high among Singaporeans, a study has found that the strongest driver of sustainable action is whether individuals feel a sense of personal ownership and believe their actions can make a difference.
According to a whitepaper by Singlife and the Sustainable and Green Finance Institute at the National University of Singapore, titled ‘Closing the Sustainability Action Gap: Insights from the Singlife SGFIN Sustainable Future Index 2026’, a sense of ownership accounts for 74% of sustainability action, compared with 18% for awareness and 8% for knowledge.
This suggests that fostering a stronger sense of personal ownership is likely to have a bigger impact on encouraging sustainable behaviour than awareness-building efforts alone.
The paper also identified the behavioural drivers behind sustainable behaviour, where the greatest opportunities to close Singapore’s sustainability action gap are and practical recommendations to help businesses, financial institutions and policymakers encourage more sustainable behaviours.
“The conversation on sustainability has largely focussed on raising awareness. Our findings show that awareness alone is no longer the main challenge,” said Singlife Head of Sustainability Chia Ko Wen.
“The next step is helping people turn awareness into action. That means making sustainability more personal, practical and accessible, while recognising that different people face different barriers and motivations.”
Mr Chia added, “We hope these insights will help businesses, financial institutions and policymakers design more effective interventions that make sustainable choices easier to adopt.”
Sustainable choices widely adopted when easy, affordable and convenient
The study found that Singaporeans are more likely to adopt sustainable behaviours when they fit naturally into everyday life, such as 52% of respondents buying less fast fashion and 48% purchasing products carrying eco-labels.
In contrast, adoption declined for behaviours involving greater cost or lifestyle changes: only 25% bought more second-hand clothing, 24% purchased organic food despite the higher cost and 16% adopted electric vehicles.
As such, the paper noted that reducing barriers such as cost and complexity will therefore be key to encouraging greater sustainability action.
Opportunities remain to strengthen climate resilience and community participation
The whitepaper also identified significant opportunities to strengthen climate resilience and increase participation in community-based sustainability initiatives.
For instance, it noted that only 16% of respondents have purchased insurance products designed to protect against climate related risks, although a further 40% intend to do so in the next 12 months.
Recommendations
Drawing on its findings, the whitepaper recommended three priorities for helping Singaporeans move from awareness to action:
- Make sustainability tangible by clearly demonstrating the environmental and social impact of sustainable businesses and financial products to improve understanding and adoption by individuals.
- Make sustainability more relatable by connecting it to issues that matter to individuals, such as health benefits, family wellbeing and financial security.
- Empower people to act by reducing complexity, improving transparency and making sustainable choices easier to understand, access and incorporate into everyday lifestyles.
Applying these priorities, recommendations were also made to three groups of stakeholders:
- Policymakers and government agencies: Drive climate action through youth engagement; strengthen personal responsibility for daily choices; enhance accountability and build trust in sustainable retail options and financial products; highlight the concept of social sustainability and shared citizen responsibility in public campaigns.
- Businesses: Strengthen affordability, accessibility, and transparency to increase trust in sustainable products and services; empower employees to lead change in their own communities.
- Financial institutions: Make sustainable investing more relevant to the public, transparent and impactful, especially for younger generations.
The whitepaper’s findings were based on a nationally representative survey of 1,500 Singaporeans and Permanent Residents conducted between 12 September and 17 October 2025, and an analysis of 25 sustainability actions across four dimensions: Responsible Investing, Acting on Climate Change, Inclusive and Sustainable Solutions and Society and Culture, using the Awareness-Knowledge-Ownership-Action (AKOA) behavioural framework.
The full whitepaper can be accessed here.