Sustainability is no longer a box-ticking exercise reserved for large multinationals with dedicated ESG teams. Singapore SMEs are increasingly finding that customers, financiers, and even landlords are asking harder questions about energy use, waste, and carbon footprint, and that answering those questions well can unlock better financing terms and new contracts. Enterprise Singapore’s Enterprise Sustainability Programme (ESP) exists precisely to help smaller businesses build these capabilities without bearing the full cost alone.
This guide explains what the ESP covers, who qualifies, current support levels, and how to structure a successful application.
What Is the Enterprise Sustainability Programme?
The ESP is a broad umbrella of support administered by Enterprise Singapore, designed to help Singapore enterprises (particularly SMEs) build sustainability capabilities, adopt greener processes, and develop new sustainability-related products and services. Rather than a single fixed grant, the ESP spans several strands of support, including funding for sustainability strategy and capability-building projects, resource efficiency and green process adoption, and support for developing innovative low-carbon products or services.
It sits alongside Enterprise Singapore’s other capability-building grants. If your business is also considering broader digitalisation or productivity upgrades, it is worth reading these alongside our guides to the Enterprise Development Grant and the consolidated EDGE grant framework introduced in Budget 2026, since project scopes can sometimes overlap and applicants should avoid claiming the same cost item under two schemes.
Who Is Eligible?
Broadly, ESP applicants must be:
- Registered and operating in Singapore
- Have a minimum local shareholding, consistent with Enterprise Singapore’s general grant eligibility criteria
- Demonstrate financial capability to start and complete the proposed sustainability project
- Present a project with clear, measurable sustainability or resource-efficiency outcomes, rather than a generic “go green” statement
Enterprise Singapore assesses each application on the strength of the project proposal, not merely eligibility on paper, so a well-scoped project with clear KPIs and a credible implementation timeline stands a materially better chance of approval than a vague request for funding.
Current Support Levels
Support levels under Singapore’s enterprise grant schemes have been adjusted over the past two years as targeted pandemic-era enhancements have unwound. As at 2026, the standard support level for qualifying SME projects under the core capability-development schemes is up to 50% of qualifying costs, with sustainability-specific enhancements that were previously raised to 70% having been progressively normalised back toward the standard rate through 2026. A related scheme, the Sustainability Reporting Grant, has stepped its support level down from 70% (for applications up to 31 March 2026) to 50% for applications from 1 April 2026 onward, illustrating the general direction of travel: enhanced rates introduced to kick-start adoption are being tapered as sustainability reporting becomes closer to a baseline expectation rather than a novel capability.
Because support levels and qualifying cost categories are revised periodically, businesses should always confirm the current rate on the Enterprise Singapore ESP page at the time of application rather than relying solely on rates quoted in older articles, including this one.
What Costs Are Typically Supported?
Sustainability Strategy and Capability Building
Consultancy costs to develop a sustainability roadmap, carbon footprint assessments, and training for staff to build in-house sustainability reporting or management capability.
Resource Efficiency and Green Process Adoption
Equipment, systems, or process redesign costs directly tied to reducing energy, water, or material consumption, where the efficiency gain can be reasonably measured and reported.
Sustainable Product and Service Development
Costs associated with developing new products, services, or business models with a genuine sustainability value proposition, as distinct from routine product development that happens to have some incidental environmental benefit.
How to Apply
- Scope the project with clear objectives, a realistic budget, and measurable sustainability outcomes.
- Engage a qualified consultant or partner where the project requires external expertise, and obtain competitive quotations to support the budget claimed.
- Submit the application through the Enterprise Singapore Business Grants Portal, together with supporting documentation on the company’s financials and the project proposal.
- Await approval before committing to major expenditure: costs incurred before formal approval are generally not eligible for support.
- Implement and report against the agreed KPIs, since disbursement is typically staged against milestones and a final claim supported by evidence of completion.
Once approved, ongoing compliance matters just as much as the initial application. Our guide on what happens after your Singapore grant is approved and our overview of grant claims, audit and clawback risk are essential reading before you submit your first claim.
Stacking the ESP With Other Grants
Businesses running multiple capability-development initiatives at once should be careful about double-claiming the same cost item across different Enterprise Singapore schemes. Our guide to stacking Singapore government grants walks through how to sequence multiple applications so that each scheme funds a genuinely distinct cost category, reducing the risk of a clawback later.
Businesses tracking Singapore’s evolving green financing landscape may also find Singapore grant updates a useful complement to Enterprise Singapore’s own announcements.
Getting Help With Your Application
Because ESP applications are assessed on project quality rather than a simple checklist, many SMEs work with their corporate secretarial or accounting firm to prepare a bankable proposal, structure the budget correctly, and manage the claims process once approved.
To speak with the team at Raffles Corporate Services, you can email [email protected] or call, SMS, or WhatsApp +65 8501 7133. We are happy to assist with any queries.
The Editorial Team, Raffles Corporate Services
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