About

An active advocate for green building and sustainability for over two decades, Esther has been instrumental in establishing CDL’s leadership in sustainability. It is ranked top real estate company on the 2021 and 2022 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World. It became the first real estate conglomerate in Southeast Asia to sign the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings in February 2021. Key ESG initiatives she has spearheaded include publishing the first sustainability report in Singapore in 2008 and issuing the first green bond by a Singaporean company in 2017.

A forerunner in embracing the UN SDGs, Esther was conferred 2018 SDG Pioneer for Green Infrastructure and A Low Carbon Economy by the UN Global Compact. She chairs the World Green Building Council Corporate Advisory Board; the Asia Pacific Real Estate Association’s ESG Committee; and co-chair the Urban Land Institute Singapore’s Sustainability Product Council. The chairperson of the Sustainability Report Advisory Committee in Singapore, she also sits on board the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Supervisory Board, GRESB Foundation Board, and UN PRI Real Estate Advisory Committee. A signatory for the UNGC Caring for Climate network, Esther is an executive council member of the UN ESCAP Sustainable
Business Network.

A G20 Empower Advocate, Esther recognizes that youth engagement and female empowerment is crucial for sustainable development. She founded the Women4Green network in 2017 and the Youth4Climate initiative in 2018.