The year is likely to see cooperation between China and the European Union become more important, but both sides will have to carefully navigate developments that could lead to more trade friction. Transition finance is expected to grow.
Trump 2.0 promises to add to the uncertainties that chief sustainability officers have had to tackle over the last year. Sustainability became harder to sell in the boardroom, and in Asia, the talent crunch is still a problem.
Airlines came under intense scrutiny for suspect green claims this year, as did net zero targets, sustainability-linked loans and the UN-led COP process. Australia led the Asia Pacific region for penalising firms for greenwashing with fines.
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.