As a global climate banking alliance softened its stance on mandatory targets, some chief sustainability officers of Southeast Asian banks think it is time to 'come back to earth' on transition pathways and reporting requirements.
With one in five green jobs expected to go unfilled by 2030, LinkedIn’s Pei Ying Chua and Microsoft Singapore’s Joey Tan warn of a growing skills gap. They urge businesses to see green investments as strategic, not as a cost.
A fifth of the lender’s portfolio faces high nature-related risks, says sustainability head Eric Lim, noting water’s broad impact and the lack of target-setting tools. Oil and gas, though a focus sector, was excluded from its analysis.
As Asia Pacific sees its first net-zero banking alliance exits, the Singapore lender looks to draw up decarbonisation pathways for two more sectors and has clarified what activities count as transition financing.