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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.   

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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.

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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. 

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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.  

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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.

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Subject to prevailing Covid-19 regulations