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.
Asia’s sustainability heads foresee some relief from reporting burdens this year, but articulating the financial value of social, biodiversity and climate-related impacts, engaging suppliers and staying ahead of regulations will keep them busy.
Western courtrooms grew busier processing cases of greenwashing. In Asia, regulators and policymakers also started to think seriously about how to police exaggerated sustainability claims.
Funders in the region see weak sustainability ratings of prospective assets as an opportunity to overhaul their ESG practices and add market value, rather than a reason to exclude them.
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.