Eco-Business’ 10 most read stories of 2025

In 2025, climate, nature and development stories across Asia were driven by problems that could no longer be ignored. Extreme weather exposed weak public spending and governance, shifts in global politics disrupted aid and climate science. The race to decarbonise raised new questions about land, communities and credibility. At the same time, companies changed how they talked about sustainability, charities stepped in as funding gaps widened, and conservation became more closely linked to energy, tourism and finance. 

Eco-Business’ most-read stories of 2025 reflected these tensions on the ground. Stories ranged from corruption allegations in Philippine flood control projects and Indigenous resistance to deforestation in Sarawak, to scrutiny of greenwashing, data centre emissions and the limits of renewable energy siting.

Together, they offer a snapshot of a year when long-standing vulnerabilities were exposed and the pathways forward grew more complex. Below are the 10 Eco-Business stories that resonated most widely in 2025, reflecting how climate, nature and development unfolded across the region.

1. Philippine president calls out corruption in flood control projects

Ahead of the President’s SONA (State of the Nation Address), Greenpeace Philippines activists held a creative protest in a flooded neighborhood in Cainta, Rizal, to spotlight the urgent need for climate accountability. They placed a cardboard standee depicting President Marcos in floodwaters, and held up a banner declaring: “This is the State of the Nation”. Image: Noel Celis/Greenpeace

After successive typhoons submerged large swathes of the climate-vulnerable archipelago, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr used his fourth State of the Nation Address in July to confront corruption in flood control spending, ordering a full audit of projects meant to protect vulnerable communities. He warned that many were structurally flawed – or existed only as “ghost projects” – as a battery of storms, including supertyphoons Ragasa and Fung-wong, displaced millions and killed hundreds across Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao in 2025.

Civil society groups have since put numbers to the scale of the problem. Greenpeace Philippines estimates that up to P1.089 trillion (US$19.1 billion) in climate-tagged funds since 2023 may have been lost to corruption, including P560 billion (US$9.8 billion) in 2025 alone, based on government climate finance data. Lawmakers and the finance secretary have warned that only 30 to 40 per cent of budgets may reach implementation – a shortfall made starkly visible when provinces such as Cebu and Negros flooded in November despite billions allocated for protection.

2. ‘Not as easy as filling USAID’s gap’: How philanthropies in Southeast Asia are stepping up

United States President Donald Trump’s onslaught against foreign aid contracts has led to a whiplash in international humanitarian operations. Image: USAID Urban, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Flickr.

The abrupt suspension and dismantling of United States foreign aid under President Donald Trump has triggered funding shocks across Southeast Asia, where the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) disbursed about US$3.8 billion in 2023. Advocacy, education, health and climate programmes have faced closures, layoffs and unpaid services, after Washington announced that 83 per cent of global aid contracts would be permanently terminated following a 90-day review.

Regional philanthropies have been urged to respond, but surveys suggest their capacity to replace lost funding is limited. A rapid assessment by Asia Philanthropy Circle found that 70 per cent of surveyed non-profits relied on USAID and had lost about US$275 million, with confidence to replace just US$2 million within a year. The crisis has exposed deep structural dependence on foreign aid, particularly in Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines, where gaps in HIV prevention, education and climate action are already emerging.

3. Gates Foundation sets up Singapore office; fronts US$100 million philanthropic effort for regional health initiatives

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (right) shared that he met with American billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates on Monday. Gates, who is on a visit to the city-state, said that the philanthropic organisation he co-founded, Gates Foundation, will be setting up an office in Singapore. Image: Lawrence Wong/X

The Gates Foundation in May announced plans to open an office in Singapore, signalling a deeper regional commitment as it leads a US$100 million effort to improve health outcomes in Southeast Asia by 2030. Working alongside organisations such as Philanthropy Asia Alliance, the Tanoto Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy, the initiative will initially focus on Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, targeting maternal and child health and infectious diseases, including tuberculosis and malaria.

The move comes as global development financing strains under a US$4.3 trillion annual gap to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, amid declining official development assistance. By anchoring its regional strategy in Singapore and pooling catalytic capital, the foundation aims to crowd in partners and stabilise health gains at a time when public aid is shrinking, and private capital has struggled to scale through blended finance.

4. ‘ESG’ is fading from corporate lexicon: study

Corporate use of the term “ESG” peaked in 2021, the year after the Covid-19 pricked the corporate conscience. Image: UNclimatechange, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Flickr.

Corporate use of the term “ESG” has declined sharply since peaking in 2021, according to a GlobalData analysis of filings from more than 72,000 companies across Asia Pacific, Europe and North America. Mentions have fallen fastest in Asia Pacific, reflecting a broader retreat from language that has become politically charged.

Communications advisers say the shift reflects backlash, regulatory uncertainty and fears of greenwashing, prompting firms to reframe sustainability under different labels rather than abandon it outright. While ESG programmes continue, companies are opting for quieter language – a trend that mirrors heightened scrutiny even as reported greenwashing cases fell for the first time in six years.

5. Sarawak communities seek urgent government action against palm oil-driven deforestation

Indigenous Penan communities protested against logging activity in Ba Data Bila, territory within the protected Upper Baram Forest Area. The Sarawak Forestry Department said the logging was done to provide basic amenities and with community consent. Image: Bruno Manser Fonds Facebook page

Indigenous Penan and Kenyah communities in Long Urun of the Malaysian state Sarawak, have escalated calls for government intervention against a palm oil company accused of clearing natural forests in violation of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil standards. In letters to state and federal authorities, the communities urged an immediate halt to land clearing by Urun Plantations pending an independent investigation.

Community representatives and civil society groups say deforestation has continued despite court actions, blockades and complaints to regulators, eroding trust in certification systems that prohibit new oil palm planting on forested land after 2019. The case has become a test of Malaysia’s credibility on forest protection and Indigenous land rights, as delays in enforcement have allowed forest loss to continue while investigations drag on.

6. ‘Not a given that renewables will be harmless’: How poor siting could slow Southeast Asia’s energy transition

New data from Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has revealed a rise in legal action against companies across the renewable energy value chain due to human rights and environmental abuses since 2009. Image: Changhua Coast Conservation Action via Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Southeast Asian governments have accelerated approvals for renewable energy to meet 2030 targets, with countries such as the Philippines introducing “green lane” permitting for large-scale wind and solar projects worth trillions of pesos. Vietnam and Thailand have similarly streamlined auctions and land-use approvals to expand clean power capacity at speed.

Conservationists warn that speed without careful siting risks new conflicts and ecological damage. Projects have faced opposition for encroaching on sensitive habitats, from karst ecosystems in the Philippines to bird migration corridors in Sri Lanka and India. As renewable facilities and transmission lines spread across vast land areas, scientists caution that poor planning could erode public support and slow the transition meant to cut emissions.

7. Paradise protected? The ecotourism lure of the Philippines’ under-the-radar islands

Tourists kayak into a lagoon in El Nido, Palawan. Image: Adam Navarro, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Unsplash.

From Coron in Palawan to smaller island communities, ecotourism has reshaped local economies once marked by destructive fishing, replacing it with conservation-linked livelihoods managed by communities themselves. In places such as the Siete Pecados Marine Park, daily visitor caps, entrance fees and strict no-fishing rules have helped restore reefs while funding mangrove restoration, boats and local jobs.

Yet the renewed tourism push under President Marcos, backed by expanded air routes and infrastructure, has revived concerns over the fragile islands’ carrying capacity. With international arrivals nearing six million and tourism contributing 8.6 per cent of the Philippine economy, scientists and regulators warn that without firm limits and education, marine ecosystems risk repeating the overtourism crises seen in Boracay and El Nido.

8. Carbon offsets abuse most common form of greenwashing in Southeast Asia; Malaysia is a false claims hotspot: NGO tracker

The documented greenwashing cases in Southeast Asia most commonly breach Zero Greenwashing Alliance’s guidelines in two ways: making environmental claims based on carbon offsets and hiding or omitting material information in a claim. Image: diGital Sennin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Unsplash.

A new database by Malaysian watchdog RimbaWatch has mapped greenwashing cases across Southeast Asia, identifying carbon offsets abuse as the most common tactic and Malaysia as the regional hotspot. Since 2020, the tracker has logged 17 cases, dominated by fossil fuel-linked firms, with Malaysia accounting for 12 incidents involving exaggerated decarbonisation claims or reliance on non-credible offsets.

The findings point to weak regulation across the region, where no Southeast Asian country has developed clear legal definitions of greenwashing. Gaps in consumer protection and enforcement have allowed misleading sustainability claims to persist, even as courts and regulators elsewhere move to penalise false environmental marketing.

9. TikTok parent ByteDance funds forest conservation in Malaysia, home to its largest data centre outside China

ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, has a 2030 target of achieving net zero emissions. Image: Samantha Ho/Eco-Business

ByteDance has turned to forest conservation in Malaysia as it seeks to decarbonise its fast-growing data centre operations, signing an agreement to protect the 92-hectare Darulaman Sanctuary in Langkawi. Rich in threatened species, the site is among the first covered by Malaysia’s Forest Conservation Certificate, a non-tradable instrument designed to support verified conservation rather than generate carbon credits.

The investment highlights the rising climate footprint of data centres in Malaysia, which already consume more than 2 per cent of the peninsula’s electricity demand. As ByteDance plans billions of ringgit in further investments to build an artificial intelligence hub, the partnership underscores growing pressure on multinationals to pair expansion with credible emissions reductions and biodiversity protection.

10. America’s attack on climate science could affect adaptation capacity in Asia: climate scientist Ben Horton

Hurricane Katrina woke up America to climate change, but climate science is now under attack in the United States, which has implications for how Asia can adapt to climate impacts, says Professor Benjamin Horton. Image: John Smith/Flickr

Cuts to US climate science agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) carry global consequences, climate scientist Benjamin Horton warned on the EB Podcast, as Asian countries depend heavily on American data to plan sea walls, ports and flood defences. Singapore’s national climate studies, which guide how high to build critical infrastructure, rely on US-generated sea-level rise data.

As global temperatures crossed the 1.5°C threshold between 2023 and 2025, Horton cautioned that weakening scientific capacity undermines adaptation just as risks intensify. With energy demand rising from artificial intelligence and data centres, he argued that political retreat from climate science threatens not only emissions goals but societies’ basic ability to protect lives and livelihoods.