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Decoding Sustainable Finance

We attempt to break down complex issues surrounding the latest regulations and trends in sustainable finance.

What else is needed to support Asia's green transition? Find out more at Unlocking Capital For Sustainability, our annual flagship event.

To avoid carbon credit pitfalls, the nascent market's pioneers are keen to rule out offsetting and secondary market trading, while letting Indigenous peoples and local communities take the lead. But NGOs call the financing mechanism a “false solution to a false problem”.

22 Oct 2024

The unregulated product is increasingly offered by ESG raters to gauge how “green” a bond or loan is. But “overly positive” reviews challenge their ability to bring credibility to the trillion-dollar sustainable debt market, experts say.

Parametric insurance helps minimise losses from climate-related disasters, to which Asia is particularly vulnerable. In Southeast Asia, this has been used to insure against typhoons, earthquakes, and crop losses.

The novel mechanisms promise to mobilise more private financing for conservation, but risk distracting developing countries from addressing underlying debt issues and could ultimately be exploitative, say experts.