Eco-Business

Despite being less affected than North American investors by the politicisation of ESG, more than half of Asia Pacific investors expect intensified political pressure against ESG investing in their domestic markets down the road, a Robeco survey found.

Exclusive EXCLUSIVE: This revision – which comes as banks face increasing scrutiny over their fossil fuel decarbonisation targets – will better reflect the UK lender's progress in reducing financed emissions, as the long-used revenue-based carbon intensity model “can be very misleading,” StanChart's chief sustainability officer Marisa Drew told Eco-Business.

When asked if affected parties can file their complaints with an accountability mechanism it has in place, the Asian Development Bank said that people should first turn to a grievance redress channel that the Cirebon 1 operator has set up at the project level.

A car floats down a flood torrent in New South Wales, Australia

Insure Our Future, a non-profit that opposes insurers underwriting fossil fuel expansion, has criticised a new target-setting protocol unveiled by the Net Zero Insurance Alliance for lacking ambition. The protocol does not mandate insurance firms to reduce the Scope 3 emissions of their customers, it says.

By Liang Lei

By Kate Yeo

By Gillian Parker

By Hannah Alcoseba Fernandez

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It could be more effective as a strategy, as compared to divestment. Southeast Asia is already feeling the effects of climate change and needs strategic and effective action by investors. By Mark Konyn

In Asian universities, students often have little say about what happens on campus. As student divestment groups in the region gain momentum, it’s time for universities to listen to what their students have to say about issues that will affect their future. By Sonia Sambhi

Despite the increasing urgency of the climate crisis, many of the world’s most powerful financial actors have continued to invest in the fossil-fuel industry. But a new trend in the law is forcing institutional investors to decarbonise their portfolios – or be held legally accountable. By Bevis Longstreth and Connor Chung

Bangui Wind Farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines

With the urgency of the climate crisis becoming clearer by the day, governments and multilateral lenders must end public financing for fossil fuels and increase their support for renewables as soon as possible. This year's United Nations climate-change conference offers the perfect opportunity to lock in such commitments. By Werner Hoyer and John Murton

By Pius Ginting and Ho Xiang Tian

Policy & Finance

Show your stripes

By Arabesque

By Nora Sausmikat and Katrin Ganswindt

By Nancy Birdsall and Brian Webster

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Pension funds are some of the world's largest investors—holding trillions in assets—billions of which are pumped into fossil fuel companies like Shell, BP, and Total.

In the video, environmental law group ClientEarth compares the oil and gas giant's advertisements on its low-carbon investments to a burger chain claiming that they’re vegan because they’ve got salad on the menu.

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Exclusive The world's largest asset manager says it has put sustainability at the core of its investment approach. Eco-Business speaks to Shinbo Won, BlackRock's investment stewardship director in Singapore about what this means for investors, and how companies are responding to increased ESG pressure.

People using ATM machines in Singapore. Image: Robin Hicks/Eco-Business

Fossil fuels, tobacco, weapons—our banks could be spending our money on things we don't want them to. Eco-Business talks to finance expert Mayur Singh about why consumers in Asia should asking banks how they spend their money.

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