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Themed “Priming Asia for Good", the Philanthropy Asia Summit (PAS) 2025 — co-located with Ecosperity Week — was the largest edition to date. Held from 5–7 May 2025 in Singapore, it convened nearly 800 speakers and delegates, with 28 sessions and 102 speakers across three action-packed days.
Organised by the Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA) and supported by Temasek Foundation (TF) and Temasek Trust (TT), the Summit underscored the catalytic role of collaborative philanthropy in addressing interconnected challenges in climate, education, and health. It reinforced Asia’s potential to shape global progress through inclusive development, climate action, health resilience, and systems change.
Leadership Reflections: Solving for Asia, Solving for the World
In his opening remarks, Mr. Lim Boon Heng, Chairman of PAA, emphasised the importance of persistence in creating lasting impact: “Driving impact takes time… staying the course matters.” He reaffirmed PAA’s long-term mission to build a more equitable and resilient future across sectors and invited more partners to “connect, scale, and turn good intentions into enduring outcomes”.
Mr. Desmond Kuek, Executive Director and CEO of Temasek Trust, highlighted Asia's strategic role: “Our approaches and solutions may be contextualised for Asia, but the relevance is global. After all, solving for the world must involve solving for Asia.”
Mr. Shaun Seow, CEO of PAA, called for a bold mindset: “If we don’t support the pilot, or research, or offtake demand, the bigger pools of capital — public and private — won’t come in to scale.”
Temasek Trust Ecosystem: Key Milestones and Initiatives
The TT ecosystem — including the Asia Centre for Changemakers (ACC), Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP), Co-Axis, Mandai Nature, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL), PAA, and TF — played an active role throughout the Summit, demonstrating how aligned efforts can drive shared outcomes.
1. Convening Partnerships & Inspiring Collective Impact
CIIP and Temasek co-organised the Impact Investing Roundtable 2025, which was themed “Achieving Impactful Outcomes: Perspectives from the Ground”. It brought together leading impact investing industry experts, investors, and companies for discussions which focused on how the measurement of outcomes and the harnessing of collective action can aid investors and companies in maximising impact.
Asia Philanthropy Circle, AVPN, and PAA co-organised the PAS Leaders’ Breakfast for leaders in the philanthropic space to explore the intersection of climate and development in Asia.
PAA launched two Communities for collective action:
- Health for Human Potential: Tackling maternal and child health and infectious diseases; aims to mobilise over US$100 million by 2030. Founding members include the Gates Foundation, Tanoto Foundation, and Quantedge Advancement Initiative.
- Just Energy Transition: Advancing clean and inclusive energy, co-led by Tara Climate Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and others.
2. Building Capacity for the Impact Sector
ACC, with the Wealth Management Institute (WMI), anchored a PAS partner event – “Igniting Asia’s Engines for Good: Catalytic Capacity to Scale Philanthropic Impact” – which examined the essential catalysts needed to propel Asia’s philanthropy towards bigger, bolder impact.
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(From left) Mr. Rhett Ayers Butler, Mongabay; Mr. Stephen King of Omidyar Group; Ms. Foo Mee Har, WMI; Ms. Pritha Venkatachalam, The Bridgespan Group; Ms. Dawn Tan, ACC; at the “Igniting Asia’s Engines for Good: Catalytic Capacity to Scale Philanthropic Impact” session.
CIIP launched two key reports:
- Targeted Action and Financing the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) — co-developed with the World Economic Forum's GAEA initiative with support from PAA, outlining high-impact intervention areas.
- Transforming for Sustainability: Driving Impact and Value through Supply Chain Action — supporting MSMEs in Southeast Asia to adopt sustainable practices across four sectors: consumer goods, F&B, electronics, and tourism.
Mandai Nature hosted an immersive showcase at the Singapore Zoo, where they shared more about their work with Mandai Wildlife Group and other conservation partners to protect Southeast Asia’s unique biodiversity. This includes efforts in tackling the illegal wildlife trade, as well as caring for and rehabilitating rescued native wildlife.
3. Mobilising Capital Across the Spectrum
TT Foundation Advisors and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) launched a Donor-Advised Fund, unlocking philanthropic capital for high-impact carbon projects. With S$20 million committed, the DAF is drawing strong interest from family offices and private foundations aligned with Singapore’s carbon market vision.
Co-Axis, a digital impact marketplace, secured S$1.25 million in catalytic capital from the Richardson Family and C3H, supporting early-stage ventures in climate and health.
4. Catalysing Innovation and Solutions at Scale
The Liveability Challenge 2025, presented by TF, awarded S$1 million each to:
- Krosslinker (Singapore), for its aerogel-based passive cooling technology.
- Ayrton Energy (Canada), for safe and cost-effective hydrogen storage. The competition attracted 1,200+ submissions from over 100 countries.
The competition attracted 1,200+ submissions from over 100 countries.
The Amplifier programme by CIIP and PAA celebrated its first cohort of impact ventures — Circ, GRST, MAYANI, MYCL, and Sampangan — featured in the PAS Innovation Spotlight and Innovation Showcase as part of their results week in Singapore. Learn more about the second edition of the programme with its three tracks: Fair and Inclusive Employment, SMEs Sustainability in Tourism, and Textile Circularity.
Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL) won a GAEA Award for its Decarbonising Rice Project, recognised for advancing food security and climate resilience through public-private-philanthropic partnerships (PPPPs).
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The GAEA Awards Ceremony, a partner event at PAS 2025. Photo credit: World Economic Forum's GAEA (Giving to Amplify Earth Action) initiative.
What's Next: Sustaining the Momentum
PAS 2025 and Ecosperity Week demonstrated that no single actor can address global challenges alone. Philanthropy has a catalytic role to play – not to replace government or commercial capital, but to de-risk early-stage efforts, support upstream solutions, and strengthen the infrastructure for systems change. This lies at the heart of Temasek Trust’s work.
We invite like-minded partners to lead, co-lead, or crowd in across our platforms and initiatives.
Look out for the upcoming PAS 2025 Insights Report for key takeaways.
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