The plenary on Day 1 featured a robust line-up of keynotes and panel sessions spanning health, climate, and inclusive development, with discussions on how philanthropy, government, and businesses can work in concert to drive impact.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Edmund Koh, Chairman, PAA, emphasised how deeply connected the challenges we face — such as climate change, health, and food security — have become. “Asia is where many of the world’s development challenges concentrate, and where responses must be built,” he said.

Mr. Edmund Koh, Chairman, PAA, delivering opening remarks on Day 1 of PAS 2026.

The Health keynote and panel emphasised that advancing lifelong wellbeing starts with recognising the interconnections between human, animal, and environmental systems, and the need to shift from reactive crisis responses towards preventive, systems-level resilience building.

The Climate segments framed food systems as inextricable from biodiversity, water, clean energy, and land use considerations, therefore making them central to climate action. Speakers returned to the need for more cohesive approaches, such as better data integration around farm-level information, climate risks, supply chains, and trade flows.

The Inclusive Development segments tied healthy ageing outcomes to early childhood interventions, highlighting the need for societies to invest in more upstream approaches to ensure populations become more healthy and resilient across longer lifespans.

Keynotes and panels across Health, Climate, and Inclusive Development featured global leaders from public, private, and philanthropic organisations, including Gates Foundation, One Health Trust, UNICEF, Google, Tencent, Emirates Foundation, and the Malaysia government.

These diverse perspectives grounded the day’s dialogues in geographic nuance and implementation realities. They also reinforced the need for initiatives, ideas, and partnerships that go beyond sector-specific approaches, and therefore lie outside of the clear mandate of any single stakeholder.

This gap is where philanthropy can play a unique role.

Across sessions, philanthropy’s unique strength as a convenor and risk-taker came into sharper focus.

During the plenary, Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO, PAA moderated a panel discussion that brought together leaders from Asia, the Middle East, and the United States to explore how philanthropy is shifting to meet the demands of systemic challenges through new forms of collaboration.

(Right to left) Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO, PAA, moderating a discussion with Ms. Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki, Managing Director, Yayasan Hasanah; Mr. Jonathan Berman, CEO, Shell Foundation; Ms. Shamina Singh, Executive Vice President, Sustainability and President, Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth; Dr. Liming Xiao, Vice President, Sustainable Social Value, Tencent; and His Excellency Ahmed Talib Al Shamsi, CEO, Emirates Foundation.

This could mean de-risking early-stage solutions to crowd in commercial players, orchestrating public-private-philanthropic-people partnerships for long-term impact goals, and empowering communities to lead local change.

PAA’s 2026 Impact Report captures how it is responding to the evolving and increasingly interconnected challenges facing Asia. In PAA’s third year, out of the US$615 million mobilised for over 300 projects, US$50 million went to 24 catalytic programmes designed to absorb early risk and crowd in larger pools of co-funding for policy-relevant work. This progress shows what is possible when resources, expertise, and intent are aligned.

In the same spirit, PAA also announced a new partnership with Tsinghua University around knowledge exchange, research, and innovation on Day 3 of PAS. Their first collaboration will be a convening in China later this year.

Dr. Yang Bin, Vice Chancellor of Tsinghua University Council, Professor of School of Economics and Management, and Dean of the Institute for Sustainable Social Value, Tsinghua University and Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO, Philanthropy Asia Alliance, on stage after announcing their partnership.

As part of PAS, Singapore President Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Patron of PAA, attended a PAA-hosted lunch for leading philanthropic funders. The discussion examined how the climate transition and artificial intelligence are reshaping livelihoods across Asia, and where philanthropic capital can make the greatest difference. The conversation also touched on the role philanthropy can play as a trusted convenor in a more fragmented world.

Singapore President Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Patron of PAA, sharing his perspectives at a PAA-hosted lunch for leading philanthropic funders.

During the week, PAA also hosted Mr. Ajay Banga, President, World Bank Group, for lunch with 100 senior delegates at Temasek Shophouse. The conversations were forward-looking, revolving around the future of development, climate action, and philanthropy in Asia.

Mr. Ajay Banga, President, World Bank, delivering a keynote and in conversation with Mr. Ravi Menon, Singapore’s Ambassador for Climate Action and Senior Adviser (National Climate Change Secretariat) during the PAA-hosted lunch at Temasek Shophouse.

The Philanthropy as Risk Capital in Asia: Bridging Innovation to Impact report, released by PAA and the Centre for Asian Philanthropy and Society (CAPS) during the Summit, present ten case studies across 13 Asian economies of how and when Asian philanthropy serves as risk capital for new or novel solutions.

Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO, PAA said that by bearing the risks that institutional and public pools cannot absorb, patient philanthropic capital generates the evidence required before others can follow at scale.

Dr. Ruth A. Shapiro, CEO, CAPS, moderated a panel featuring Mr. Ryan Tan, Head, Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (C3H). Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO, PAA closed the session, which was titled “Philanthropy as Risk Capital: Insights from Asia”.

This year’s Summit also made Asian innovations across diverse sustainability and development themes a central piece of the conversation.

Innovation Spotlight — organised by the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP), Co-Axis, and PAA — convened over 30 startups and social enterprises in climate, health, education, employability, and financial inclusion, to pitch their solutions to a global audience. 

Amongst them was the 2025 mentee cohort of the Amplifier programme by CIIP and PAA. At the session, an upcoming water resilience track with the Asian Development Bank was also announced.

Amongst the 30+ innovators who pitched at Innovation Spotlight were the three mentee cohorts of the Amplifier 2025 programme, who shared solutions in Textiles, Tourism, and Employment. An upcoming water resilience track in partnership with the Asian Development Bank was also announced.

Across three action-packed days, Innovation Showcase booths by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, DBS Foundation, GARDP Foundation, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and Tencent brought initiatives in digital climate advisory, health ageing, nutrition, antibiotic resistance, and AI-enabled marine conservation to audiences.

Delegates interacting with the Innovation Showcase booths by DBS Foundation, QUT, and Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.

Booths featuring members of the Temasek Trust Collective – including latest investee of Catalytic Capital for Climate and Health (C3H), injewelme, and Co-Axis — as well as Mandai Nature, Temasek Foundation, and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory also presented innovations and initiatives in contactless health monitoring, wildlife biobanking, decarbonising rice, sustainable biofuel, and more.

Representatives from C3H investee injewelme, Co-Axis, Mandai Nature, Temasek Foundation, and Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory showcasing their innovations and initiatives across three days of the Summit.

The final days of the Summit extended the showcase beyond the stage. Through Impact Journeys across Singapore and in Timor Leste, delegates had opportunities to engage directly with ground-level initiatives shaping real-world outcomes.

Day 4 of the Summit brought conversations to four distinct sites of impact, where ideas and implementation meet.

These included:

• Debug Factory Tour: A Google initiative combining AI with automated hardware to build solutions that reduce mosquito-borne diseases at scale
• Enabling Village: A vibrant hub for accessibility and inclusion, featuring inclusive infrastructure, cutting-edge assistive technologies, and community-driven solutions to help persons with disabilities thrive
• Greenphyto: The world’s tallest and largest indoor vertical farm aimed at strengthening food resilience and security through fully automated technology powered by AI and robotics
• St. John's Island National Marine Laboratory (SJINML): Singapore's only offshore marine research station driving research to support marine conservation, food security, and sustainable development

Impact Journeys, organised by PAA together with partners, took delegates to local impact-in-action sites: Google’s Debug Factory, one of the world's largest adult mosquito-rearing facilities; Enabling Village, a local hub for accessibility and inclusion; SJINML, a national research infrastructure for marine science research and education.

This year also marked the first PAS Impact Journey held overseas. Over five days, 10 philanthropists from China and Singapore travelled to Timor Leste to learn about efforts across the Southeast Asian island to advance community-led marine conservation, economic empowerment for women, regenerative agriculture, climate adaptation, education and nutrition for children, and more. 

The first overseas PAS Impact Journey brought 10 delegates to cultural spaces, mangrove restoration sites, schools, health centres, and social enterprises across Timor Leste to explore how philanthropy can better support locally-led solutions.

PAS serves as a key platform for showcasing the latest developments, insights, and innovations from across the Temasek Trust Collective and our partners. By convening philanthropists, social entrepreneurs, governments, and investors, PAS catalyses partnerships and action to address some of Asia's and the world's most pressing challenges.

Our recently launched From Innovation to Implementation: How Asia is Mobilising for a Better World report, developed with PAA, consolidates insights from Ecosperity Week and PAS on how Asia is moving from ambition to action. Read the report here.

Learn more about the Global Coalition for Nuclear Philanthropy (GCNP), announced by Temasek Trust and The Rockefeller Foundation during PAS. GCNP is a collaborative initiative to mobilise philanthropic capital in support of nuclear energy as a driver for clean energy security, economic growth, energy abundance, and human development.

For highlights from The Liveability Challenge 2026 Grand Finale, presented by Temasek Foundation, click here. 

Additionally, the Impact Investing Roundtable 2026, organised by Temasek and the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices, explored how capital can be deployed for meaningful impact outcomes at scale. An Asia-focused report on climate adaptation and resilience was also launched at the event. Read more here. 

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