Increasing allocations and giving states more freedom on how they can spend EFT funds could make this mechanism more effective, say conservationists. Malaysia's environmental sustainability minister Nik Nazmi also agrees there is a good basis to make the scheme more permanent, but in-depth discussions must be held with the states, he told Eco-Business.

The federal government says the Ecological Fiscal Transfer (EFT) approach has spurred state governments to expand protected areas and run more conservation programmes. Yet as environmentalists are calling for more EFT funding, our latest analysis finds little transparency on most of the money disbursed, despite some state-level data from Johor and Sabah.

As the city-state's listed companies prepare to kick off mandatory climate reporting in 2025, nine in 10 local firms have yet to fully measure Scope 3 emissions, which make up the bulk of an entity's carbon footprint, finds a new study.

Southeast Asia's second-largest lender is likely to join rival DBS in backing a managed coal phase-out in line with the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy's criteria. But it remains unclear if the updated coal policy will be 1.5°C-aligned.