Benjamin Towell, Executive Director of OCBC’s Wholesale Banking Sustainability Office, helps shape the bank’s net‑zero roadmap for the built environment, drives innovative finance solutions for customers with a special focus on SMEs, and contributes to global efforts like CRREM and the World Green Building Council to ensure credible 1.5 °C aligned pathways.

Benjamin explains OCBC’s SL25-award winning SME Energy Efficiency Assessment (SMEEA) tool: what it is, how it works, and why it was developed. We explore why OCBC has expanded SMEEA across markets and how the tool's flexibility accounts for differing climates, regulations and market norms. Success stories with SMEEA helps fuel OCBC’s sustainable financing practice and serves as a model for financial institutions. 

Sharing his perspective and advice for other financial professionals and SMEs, Benjamin also digs into what motivated him, as an architect, to join a financial services institution and mobilise capital for good. 

Tune in to learn about how financial innovation and cross‑sector expertise at OCBC are bringing SMEs into the heart of the net‑zero transition.

It is also available on Spotify and Apple Podcast.

Posted 15/10/2025