Eco-Business

Tom Beloe, UNDP's Sustainable Finance Hub Director keynote at CASI

SMEs form the backbone of Asia’s supply chains and labour force across Asia’s emerging markets, yet many struggle to access the finance and insurance needed to withstand climate shocks. Eco-Business speaks to UNDP’s Tom Beloe in Hong Kong, who explains what it will take to reach them.

Speaking at the Net Zero Carbon Alliance conference, industry and academic experts urged coordinated efforts to strengthen the grid, align government policies and expand access to affordable financing to accelerate the Philippines’ transition to a low carbon economy.

Workers installing solar panels in Vietnam

As of 2025, solar electricity was already 50 per cent cheaper than gas on average across Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, according to a Zero Carbon Analytics study. The cost gap is expected to widen to 84 per cent by the end of the decade.

Growing water stress is creating financial and supply chain risks for businesses, with many companies still lacking systems to assess and manage their exposure.

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez

By Rhick Lars Albay

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez

By Rhick Lars Albay

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The return of smoke haze underscores a sobering reality: while Asean has policies designed to combat it, the problem continues to occur. By Melinda Martinus

The region’s stake in AI is not simply which great power builds the most capable model. The key is to ensure that AI remains affordable, locally relevant, continuously available and politically accessible. By Zenobia Chan

Southeast Asia’s nuclear push locks countries into long-term strategic alignments, reshaping regional autonomy as major powers compete for influence. By Mahadi Sugiono

The downlisting of recovering species can put conservation gains at risk when funding systems shift resources to species facing higher extinction risks. By David Quimpo

By Mohd Yunus

By Bao Tan-Hoang Nguyen

By John Leo Algo

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The action comes despite the oil giant suing the environmental group for US$2.1 million after demonstrators boarded the company’s vessel at the Atlantic Ocean in January.

The veteran journalist talks to Eco-Business about how his Emmy-nominated documentary depicts the lives of environmental crusaders in Asia's deadliest country for guardians of the seas and forests.

Video footage appears to show protestors, who were demonstrating against mining operations, being dragged away by police near Ipilan Nickel Mine in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. Mining insiders are calling for maximum tolerance in similar standoffs.

A coalition of scientists and environmentalists found “widespread economic impacts” for communities in the Philippine province, heightening calls for accountability from the sunken tanker reportedly chartered by a San Miguel Corp subsidiary.

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Amid back‑to‑back trash slides and a landfill fire in one of Southeast Asia’s leakiest waste systems, Philippine environment undersecretary Jonas Leones touts new science‑based safeguards for a waste‑to‑energy buildout in the country.

EB Studio Critical to the country’s energy security in the 1970s, geothermal is now re-emerging as the Philippines’ biggest clean energy advantage at a time when countries are seeking reliable, round-the-clock renewable power, says Francis Giles B. Puno, president and chief operating officer of First Gen Corporation.

Government must call on development finance institutions to tap on risk management tools to make the capital-intensive technology more investible, Global Wind Energy Council’s Ann Margret Francisco tells the EB Podcast.

A small-scale miner in Bicol, Philippines

Critical minerals will be central to this year’s Asean meetings, said environment assistant secretary Noralene Uy, as the Philippines ushers the region towards domestic processing as summit chair.

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