20th September, 1700hrs -2000hrs | 21st September, 0830hrs - 1830hrs (GMT +8)
The world as we know it has entered an era of unprecedented uncertainty and fragility. From the Covid-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis, these major macroeconomic forces have thwarted progress on the Global Goals and nowhere is this more evident than in Asia.
The latest UN report on the Sustainable Development Goals — a collection of 17 interlinked targets adopted by all nations for a more sustainable future by 2030 — revealed that Covid-19 and the continued regression on climate action and resource use have caused the biggest slowdown in pace since the targets were set in 2015. Southeast Asia and the Pacific are particularly lagging.
Amid a diverging geopolitical landscape marked by rising energy prices, higher inflation, slower growth and increasing commodity prices, the role of sustainable finance in securing a sustainable and equitable future is more important than ever.
The 2022 Financing for Sustainable Development report by the United Nations identifies a “great finance divide” as a key driver of divergent recoveries: while developed countries were able to borrow at record-low interest rates to support economies, developing countries were limited by fiscal constraints, further exacerbating inequalities.
Meanwhile, the world faces a growing triple planetary crisis – climate, nature, and pollution — which underlines the urgent need to align all financing flows with sustainable development, and to achieve the shared goals of a greener, more inclusive and resilient recovery.
Themed ‘The role of sustainable finance in a disrupted world’, Unlocking capital for sustainability 2022 will convene its annual meeting of leading minds and actors from across government, financial institutions, business and civic society to discuss specific actions to progress sustainable finance in this region and beyond.
This year’s forum will feature four regional virtual dialogues spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and India, and culminates in a two-day hybrid event held in Singapore.
https://www.gevme.com/site/ucfs2022-resources
Register for other regional events for Unlocking Capital for Sustainability 2022:
- Malaysia: The role of finance in building resilience - 1 September 2022
- Investment opportunities in Indonesia’s green growth - 6 September 2022
- Philippines: New election promises and the road to sustainable development - 8 September 2022
- Green finance and the energy transition: Navigating the sustainability landscape in India - 15 September 2022
- [Invitation-only] Through the lens of impact and return: Investing in Asia - 20 September 2022
By Invite-only
Responsible investing — integrating environment, social and governance factors into the allocation of capital — has been on a phenomenal rise globally. For three-quarters of global investors, it has become central to investment policies, with Europe being the leading player.
But along with its growth — complicated by a macroeconomic environment of rising geopolitical tensions and supply chain shocks — criticisms of greenwashing are mounting and the ESG investing approach is under siege. Governments across the world are raising regulatory standards in response, with Asia catching up. China and Asean countries are developing taxonomies and standards for sustainable finance, while investors are grappling with an ever-changing landscape.
What is the future of responsible investing in this region? What are the challenges in channelling all types of capital into financing the transition to a sustainable economy? Is responsible asset ownership working in reality? This panel will convene leading minds to discuss the gaps in Asia’s financial landscape and key actions to accelerate — and raise standards of — responsible investing.
Watch
Head of Banking and Capital Markets, World Economic Forum
Managing Director and Market Head, Bank of Singapore
Chief Sustainability Officer, UOB
Managing Director, Asia Pacific Network, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business
Globally, investors and financial institutions are increasingly applying ESG considerations as part of their analysis to identify risks and growth opportunities. In a post-Covid world, integrating ESG into financial decision-making processes is only expected to increase, and studies have shown that companies with high ESG ratings held up better than their competitors during the crisis.
But ESG integration continues to be problematic — standards are still emerging, and the financial industry has been called out for greenwashing. ESG ratings, issued by ratings agencies to evaluate the ESG performance of companies, are also criticised for inconsistencies and its lack of transparency. Currently, there are more than 100 ESG rating agencies with different methodologies producing wide ranging results.
Where does Asia stand amid this landscape of emerging standards? How can the ecosystem converge on a set of credible methods to process and rate ESG data and performance? This panel explores how best practices in ESG integration and valuation can accelerate sustainable finance, and how such methodologies can facilitate the flow of capital into credible projects with robust ESG outcomes.
Watch
Head, ASEAN Regional Hub Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
Partner, Finance Sector & M&A Services, Asia Pacific ERM
President, MioTech
President, CFA Society Singapore
Director of Partnerships, Head of Events and Engagement, Eco-Business
Director of Center for Finance and Development, Tsinghua University
Executive Director, Eco-Business
For decades, carbon markets have been seen as part of the solution to the climate crisis — but it has also been dogged by controversy ranging from fake credits to double counting or loopholes in regulation as seen in the Kyoto Protocol's carbon credit scheme.
In recent years, money has been pouring into carbon markets as climate ambition picks up. The value of traded global markets for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits grew by 164 per cent to a record US$851 billion last year. Meanwhile, governments are starting to implement their own carbon trading and tax systems in a bid to meet their Paris Agreement commitments.
Detractors have pointed out that carbon markets can be ineffective in fighting climate change, demanding that tighter regulation be mandated to prevent nations and organisations to continue polluting at home without taking serious action. Others highlight the risks of using a market system to offset emissions in the first place, as the priority should be to reduce emissions to zero as much as possible.
Despite the obstacles, many view carbon markets as a necessary part of international cooperation on climate change, as such offsetting methods are flexible and improve the cost-effectiveness of climate action. This debate will provide a thorough examination of the role of carbon markets in the transition to net zero.
Watch
Managing Director, Asia Pacific, CDP
Director, Global ESG Strategy and Engagement, S&P Global
Head of Platforms and Ecosystems, Climate Impact X
Head of Southeast Asia, Carbon Trust
Moderator-at-Large, Eco-Business
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent stock take of global emissions warned that we are nowhere near close to limiting global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, this threshold is beyond reach within the timeframe.
While climate action has gained momentum globally, it is not growing at the desired pace. Net zero pledges cover some 90 per cent of global GDP today, but the road ahead is fraught with challenges, disrupted by global events such as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the wider structural problems around financing.
Experts estimate that about US$50 trillion in investments is required by 2050 to transition the global economy to net zero, but the funding is falling short due to lack of collective effort from the global community. Regressive government regulations are huge barriers, with many countries still providing fossil fuel subsidies, and while research and development into newer green technologies is urgently needed, many investors fear that early movers may suffer losses from technological obsolescence.
Despite the risks and pitfalls, this transition offers us the investment opportunity of our generation. A recent Asian Development Bank report estimates that a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in the Southeast Asia region has the potential to create US$172 billion in investment opportunities annually and generate more than 30 million jobs by 2030. Furthermore, Bloomberg estimates that renewable energy will account for over 55% of the global total installed capacity by 2030 and 74% by 2050. In this discussion, we will explore specific actions to overcome the obstacles in the net zero transition and highlight potential areas for investment.
Watch
Managing Director, CEO, GenZero
Regional Director, East Asia and Pacific, IFC
Director General, Southeast Asia, Asian Development Bank
Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer, Head of Compliance and Legal Department, BDO Unibank
Managing Director and Head of ESG & Climate, APAC, MSCI
Asia Pacific has significantly regressed on their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets, a new UN report has found. The region has retreated on actions related to climate change and responsible consumption and production, with inequality in the region further widening due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now expected to achieve the SDGs by 2065, some 35 years behind its original plan.
Investors are urgently needed to fill financing gaps across the region to foster sustainable cities, support the energy transition and address issues of human health and resource consumption. In response, impact investing – where funds are deployed to achieve both financial return and impact – has been on the rise in the region.
However, key obstacles remain. Investors are grappling with a common language to define impact, there is limited regulatory support and the entrepreneurship ecosystem still nascent. Family offices in the region practicing impact investing are few and far between.
How can we unlock private finance invest responsibly to fund ventures and enterprises that generate positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns? This panel will discuss how to mainstream impact investing in Asia Pacific to help achieve specific SDG targets.
Watch
Advisor, Smart Cities and Digitalisation, UNDP Global Centre for Technology, Innovation, and Sustainable Development
Managing Director, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investments in Asia at LGT
Director, Rumah Group
Managing Partner, Hatcher+
Chief of Sustainable Finance at AVPN
Head of UNEP Finance Initiative
Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business
Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Climate Action and Just Transition, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, United Nations
Subject to prevailing Covid-19 regulations
By Invite-only
Responsible investing — integrating environment, social and governance factors into the allocation of capital — has been on a phenomenal rise globally. For three-quarters of global investors, it has become central to investment policies, with Europe being the leading player.
But along with its growth — complicated by a macroeconomic environment of rising geopolitical tensions and supply chain shocks — criticisms of greenwashing are mounting and the ESG investing approach is under siege. Governments across the world are raising regulatory standards in response, with Asia catching up. China and Asean countries are developing taxonomies and standards for sustainable finance, while investors are grappling with an ever-changing landscape.
What is the future of responsible investing in this region? What are the challenges in channelling all types of capital into financing the transition to a sustainable economy? Is responsible asset ownership working in reality? This panel will convene leading minds to discuss the gaps in Asia’s financial landscape and key actions to accelerate — and raise standards of — responsible investing.
Watch
Globally, investors and financial institutions are increasingly applying ESG considerations as part of their analysis to identify risks and growth opportunities. In a post-Covid world, integrating ESG into financial decision-making processes is only expected to increase, and studies have shown that companies with high ESG ratings held up better than their competitors during the crisis.
But ESG integration continues to be problematic — standards are still emerging, and the financial industry has been called out for greenwashing. ESG ratings, issued by ratings agencies to evaluate the ESG performance of companies, are also criticised for inconsistencies and its lack of transparency. Currently, there are more than 100 ESG rating agencies with different methodologies producing wide ranging results.
Where does Asia stand amid this landscape of emerging standards? How can the ecosystem converge on a set of credible methods to process and rate ESG data and performance? This panel explores how best practices in ESG integration and valuation can accelerate sustainable finance, and how such methodologies can facilitate the flow of capital into credible projects with robust ESG outcomes.
Watch
For decades, carbon markets have been seen as part of the solution to the climate crisis — but it has also been dogged by controversy ranging from fake credits to double counting or loopholes in regulation as seen in the Kyoto Protocol's carbon credit scheme.
In recent years, money has been pouring into carbon markets as climate ambition picks up. The value of traded global markets for carbon dioxide (CO2) permits grew by 164 per cent to a record US$851 billion last year. Meanwhile, governments are starting to implement their own carbon trading and tax systems in a bid to meet their Paris Agreement commitments.
Detractors have pointed out that carbon markets can be ineffective in fighting climate change, demanding that tighter regulation be mandated to prevent nations and organisations to continue polluting at home without taking serious action. Others highlight the risks of using a market system to offset emissions in the first place, as the priority should be to reduce emissions to zero as much as possible.
Despite the obstacles, many view carbon markets as a necessary part of international cooperation on climate change, as such offsetting methods are flexible and improve the cost-effectiveness of climate action. This debate will provide a thorough examination of the role of carbon markets in the transition to net zero.
Watch
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's recent stock take of global emissions warned that we are nowhere near close to limiting global warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, this threshold is beyond reach within the timeframe.
While climate action has gained momentum globally, it is not growing at the desired pace. Net zero pledges cover some 90 per cent of global GDP today, but the road ahead is fraught with challenges, disrupted by global events such as Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the wider structural problems around financing.
Experts estimate that about US$50 trillion in investments is required by 2050 to transition the global economy to net zero, but the funding is falling short due to lack of collective effort from the global community. Regressive government regulations are huge barriers, with many countries still providing fossil fuel subsidies, and while research and development into newer green technologies is urgently needed, many investors fear that early movers may suffer losses from technological obsolescence.
Despite the risks and pitfalls, this transition offers us the investment opportunity of our generation. A recent Asian Development Bank report estimates that a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic in the Southeast Asia region has the potential to create US$172 billion in investment opportunities annually and generate more than 30 million jobs by 2030. Furthermore, Bloomberg estimates that renewable energy will account for over 55% of the global total installed capacity by 2030 and 74% by 2050. In this discussion, we will explore specific actions to overcome the obstacles in the net zero transition and highlight potential areas for investment.
Watch
Asia Pacific has significantly regressed on their Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) targets, a new UN report has found. The region has retreated on actions related to climate change and responsible consumption and production, with inequality in the region further widening due to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now expected to achieve the SDGs by 2065, some 35 years behind its original plan.
Investors are urgently needed to fill financing gaps across the region to foster sustainable cities, support the energy transition and address issues of human health and resource consumption. In response, impact investing – where funds are deployed to achieve both financial return and impact – has been on the rise in the region.
However, key obstacles remain. Investors are grappling with a common language to define impact, there is limited regulatory support and the entrepreneurship ecosystem still nascent. Family offices in the region practicing impact investing are few and far between.
How can we unlock private finance invest responsibly to fund ventures and enterprises that generate positive social and environmental impacts alongside financial returns? This panel will discuss how to mainstream impact investing in Asia Pacific to help achieve specific SDG targets.
Watch
Subject to prevailing Covid-19 regulations
UN Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system, and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment.
BDO Unibank, the Philippines' largest bank by assets, is a unit SM Investments, the country's biggest conglomerate by market value. BDO is a full-service, universal bank offering an array of services, including corporate and retail banking, treasury, trust, credit cards, corporate cash management, and remittances.
BDO Unibank
OCBC Bank is the longest established Singapore bank, formed in 1932 from the merger of three local banks, the oldest of which was founded in 1912. It is now the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia by assets and one of the world’s most highly-rated banks, with an Aa1 rating from Moody’s. Recognised for its financial strength and stability, OCBC Bank is consistently ranked among the World’s Top 50 Safest Banks by Global Finance and has been named Best Managed Bank in Singapore by The Asian Banker.
OCBC Bank and its subsidiaries offer a broad array of commercial banking, specialist financial and wealth management services, ranging from consumer, corporate, investment, private and transaction banking to treasury, insurance, asset management and stockbroking services.
OCBC Bank’s key markets are Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Greater China. It has more than 600 branches and representative offices in 18 countries and regions. These include over 330 branches and offices in Indonesia under subsidiary Bank OCBC NISP, and more than 100 branches and offices in Hong Kong, China and Macao under OCBC Wing Hang.
OCBC Bank’s private banking services are provided by its wholly-owned subsidiary Bank of Singapore, which operates on a unique open-architecture product platform to source for the best-in-class products to meet its clients’ goals.
OCBC Bank
United Overseas Bank Limited (UOB) is a leading bank in Asia with a global network of about 500 branches and offices in 19 countries and territories in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. In Asia, we operate through our head office in Singapore and banking subsidiaries in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, as well as branches and offices. We believe in being a responsible financial services provider and we are committed to making a difference in the communities in which we operate.
UOB provides a wide range of financial services globally through our three core business segments – Group Retail, Group Wholesale Banking and Group Global Markets. Our offering includes consumer banking, private banking, commercial banking, transaction banking, investment banking and treasury services. Through our subsidiaries, we also provide asset management, private equity fund management and insurance services among others.
United Overseas Bank Limited
Green Investing, Sustainable Finance.
MioTech is an artificial intelligence platform that empowers Sustainable Finance with environmental, social, governance (ESG) data and technology. By integrating more than 700 uniquely identified ESG data points with supply chain, shareholding, investments, and many other relationships, MioTech analyzes corporates social responsibility performances alongside key financial indicators.
MioTech
Our mission is to provide a marketplace for recycled plastic, facilitating the movement of quality assured feedstock across borders in a regulatory compliant way, and aiming to be part of the solution that tackles the global problem of plastic pollution.
Rebound Plastic Exchange
ERM is the business of sustainability.
As the largest global pure-play sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with the world’s leading organizations, creating innovative solutions to sustainability challenges and unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunities for future generations.
ERM’s diverse team of 7,000+ world-class experts in over 170 offices across 39 countries supports clients across the breadth of their organizations to operationalize sustainability. Through ERM’s deep technical expertise, clients are well-positioned to address their environmental, health, safety, risk, and social issues. ERM calls this capability its “boots to boardroom” approach - a comprehensive service model that allows ERM to develop strategic and technical solutions that advance objectives on the ground or at the executive level.
Learn more at www.ERM.com
ERM
IFC—a member of the World Bank Group—is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal year 2021, IFC committed a record $31.5 billion to private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity as economies grapple with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.
The EU-ASEAN Business Council (EU-ABC) is the primary voice for European Business within the ASEAN region. The overarching objective of the EU-ABC is to promote changes in policies, rules and regulations so that European businesses can more easily invest and develop their businesses in ASEAN, benefiting not only their own shareholders but local economies and populations as well.
Formally established and constituted in early 2014, the EU-ABC has existed on an informal basis since 2011, successfully organising several ASEAN-EU Business Summits and regularly interacting with the European Commission, ASEAN Member States, ASEAN Secretariat, and other related organisations such as the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
The EU-ABC’s membership consists of large European MNCs and the nine European Chambers of Commerce from around Southeast Asia. As such, the EU-ABC represents a diverse range of European industries cutting across almost every commercial sphere from car manufacturing through to financial services and including FMCG and high-end electronics and communications. Our members all have a vested interest in enhancing trade, commerce and investment between Europe and ASEAN.
The EU-ABC has established, and continues to develop, a series of Advocacy Groups covering both individual commercial sectors (e.g. Automotive; Insurance; Financial Services; ICT; Healthcare) and cross-industry issues (e.g. Customs Procedures & Trade Facilitation; IPR/Illicit Trade; Human Capital & Labour Regulation).
Climate Governance Malaysia is the Malaysian chapter of the World Economic Forum's Climate Governance Initiative.
We are a network of non-executive directors who aim to acquire the practical skills needed as long-term stewards of the business to help steer our companies through an effective climate transition strategy, taking into account the need for financial stability, increased resilience and sustainability.
Aside from non-executive directors, other stakeholders are also welcome to join the conversations and events.
Fair Finance Asia is a regional network of 25 (and growing) Asian civil society organisations that is committed to ensuring that the business decisions and funding strategies of financial institutions in the region respect the social and environmental well-being of the communities in which they operate. Seven countries within the region are a part of the FFA: Cambodia, Japan, India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The Global Reporting Initiative is an international independent standards organization that helps businesses, governments and other organizations understand and communicate their impacts on issues such as climate change, human rights and corruption.
GRESB is a mission-driven and industry-led organization providing standardized and validated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) data to financial markets. Established in 2009, GRESB has become the leading ESG benchmark for real estate and infrastructure investments across the world, used by 170 institutional and financial investors to inform decision-making. For more information, visit GRESB.com
Global Compact Network Singapore is the local chapter of the United Nations Global Compact.
As the national lead platform promoting corporate sustainability, GCNS provides an ecosystem for companies to align strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption, and take actions to achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through various platforms for multi-stakeholder engagement and collective action, GCNS advances the stewardship of sustainable business practices and Singapore’s national agenda of becoming a regional sustainable business hub.
In addition, GCNS nurtures the next generation of responsible business leaders through its youth initiatives. GCNS is a stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative and supports the Singapore chapter of the World Bank Group's Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition (CPLC).
Jakarta Investment Centre (JIC) is an investment promotion agency within theDepartment for Investment and Integrated One Stop Service, Jakarta Capital CityGovernment.
Through one-on-one meeting, networking session, and FGD, JIC aims to promote investment potential in various promising projects along with its related policies in Jakarta.
Bridging project owners and investors, JIC is opening assistance for potential investors to be hassle-free by providing project details information to assisting the business license issuing process.
The Global Centre for Technology, Innovation and Sustainable Development (GCTISD) is a joint initiative by the Government of Singapore and the United Nations Development Programme which aims at identifying and co-creating technological solutions for sustainable development. GCTISD curates partnerships, identifies solutions and connects partners and innovations with UNDP’s global network for sustainable development.
Our key Government partners are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the Ministry of Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Public Service Division (PSD at the Prime Minister’s Office. We are establishing links with many other agencies, Government-linked companies, start-ups and corporates to leverage Singapore’s technology and innovation ecosystem.
The GCTISD’s current emerging areas of work:
The World Climate Foundation facilitates large-scale collaboration between governments, businesses, financial institutions and international organisations, accelerating the transition to a green economy.
In close partnership with our communities, we create and manage cross-sector dialogues, innovative partnerships, and investments in sustainable solutions, within the fields of climate, biodiversity and biosecurity.
Our vision is a net-zero, nature-positive, and healthy planet by 2050, and we aim to play a leading role in facilitating the global transitions we need in order to get there.
ESG Book combines cutting-edge technology and research to make sustainability data more widely accessible across financial markets. Its range of sustainability solutions are used by many of the world’s leading financial organisations, which collectively manage over $120 trillion.
Processing over 15 million data points daily, ESG Book provides sustainability data for over 25,000 companies globally. The company’s cloud-based technology makes ESG data more widely available and comparable for market stakeholders, enables companies to be custodians of their own data, provides framework-neutral sustainability information in real-time, and promotes transparency.