The incoming Asean chair will need to rally the regional bloc around boosting investment in climate and adaptation projects, with blended finance as a key focus, suggested Ellen Joyce Suficiencia, director of BSP's sustainability office. This is especially as Western aid wanes and Southeast Asia must fill its funding gap.

Supportive government policies are crucial in steering private sector investment towards decarbonisation and climate action in Malaysia, said corporate leaders and experts at a recent summit on climate finance.

Can debt-relief incentives spur developing countries to do more to achieve nature and climate goals?

Although foreign investment between wealthier nations fell most in 2020 – by 58 per cent – developing nations have borne the brunt of last year’s overall investment downturn, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development ​said.