Eco-Business

The complex landscape of VCMs is still expanding. How are carbon credits created and who are the key actors on both the buy- and sales- sides?

The city-state intends to use offsets sourced overseas in its national climate targets under the Paris Agreement, and is pursuing bilateral deals to prevent double counting with countries such as Ghana and Vietnam.

Sustainability awareness is generally low in public relations agencies in Asia, which could expose brands to greenwashing risk. New guidelines aim to help PR practitioners avoid greenwashing and land the right sustainability messages with consumers.

Coal power plant in Jepara, central Java, Indonesia

Demand for the new class of carbon credits proposed by Singapore's central bank will depend on the integrity of projects, what they can be used for and how effectively risks are addressed, say investors.

By Samantha Ho

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez

By Robin Hicks

Thomson Reuters Foundation

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If global leaders are committed to a green transition that leaves no one behind, they must address the needs of vulnerable women and girls in developing countries, who bear the brunt of climate change at the upcoming COP28 summit. By Bertrand Badré and Immaculate Atuhamize

The sustainable development goal financing gap has widened significantly in many developing countries in the region. Coordinated multi-stakeholder regional partnerships and cooperation are needed to mobilise new resources. By Naoko Ishii

Plastic waste clogging a beach head in Jakarta

Voluntary plastic waste collection schemes have achieved little in tackling Indonesia's massive plastic waste problem. Some are even making things worse. What's really needed are tougher laws that make polluters pay and a greater emphasis on reuse over recycling. By Benedict Wermter

Regulation, alongside consumer pressure, has developed a strong appetite to progress delivery of more sustainable solutions into the market, thus generating higher demand for recycled materials. By Joshua Tan

By Jessica Cheam

By Sheila Ochugboju

By Ken Ofori-Atta and Axel van Trotsenburg

By Ifeanyi Nsofor

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EB Studio Asia's green transition pathways need to be socially inclusive given huge differences in economic development across the region, says experts at the Boston Consulting Group. State-owned enterprises have an "outsized" role to play, they add.

Watch: Singapore researchers are trying to give banana skins and coconut husks a new lease of life in water purification kits that can be used in disaster situations. They could one day also be used in the manufacture of batteries.

EB Studio Investors are starting to feel the effects of climate change in an unexpected place – their financial returns. There are now growing calls within the business community to improve the quality and coverage of climate risk disclosure.

Rich nations need to shift investments into renewables instead, they say. The civic space for demonstrations at this year's climate summit, held in Egypt, is more restricted than the Scotland event last year.

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"We are already at 1.1°C of warming – a matter of life and death for the Global South", says Professor Winston Chow, the recently appointed co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's working group on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability.

The Singapore scientist, recently elected to the UN's top climate body, tells the Eco-Business Podcast about the precarious state of climate adaptation in developing Asia. The region is not well-prepared to manage the cascading risks of extreme climate events, he says.

EB Studio Plant-based milks have grown in popularity in recent years, driven by a combination of health, environmental and practical concerns. Nutritionists on the Eco-Business podcast, produced in association with Kerry, weigh the pros and cons of non-dairy milk.

Japan-based academic Kim Schumacher, who coined the term "competence greenwashing", believes that the pursuit of societal harmony might be standing in the way of Asia calling out greenwashing. He tells the Eco-Business Podcast how exaggerated ESG claims are likely to be tackled in 2023 and beyond.

In a region where large hydro projects and expanding biofuel plantations coincide with an upcoming coal phaseout, a laissez-faire approach could worsen existing inequalities and mar the success of a clean energy buildout.

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