Industrial Bank (Hong Kong) on May 11 priced a US$650 million green bond offering, with the use of proceeds intended to be aligned with the Common Ground Taxonomy (CGT).

Achieving global climate goals will require a quantum leap in investments to secure sufficient supplies of key minerals needed for clean energy technologies. But while these inputs can greatly accelerate emission reduction efforts, protecting human rights when extracting them is an essential condition for climate justice

Singaporean lender United Overseas Bank (UOB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Korea Housing Finance Corporation (KHFC) to collaborate on investment banking, environmental, social and governance (ESG) financing and treasury services. The Korean state-owned financial company aims to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia.

Citi and consumer finance provider Home Credit have launched a joint lending facility aimed at promoting greater financial inclusion in the Philippines. The first tranche of the transaction, amounting to 420 million pesos (US$8 million), will support mobile device purchases, about half of which will go to women to allow them to buy basic digital devices such as smartphones and tablets.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on May 11 announced its commitment to help increase access to financing for climate-smart and blue-economy projects in Thailand with an investment in a blue bond to be issued by TMBThanachart Bank (ttb) – the first commercial bank in Thailand to do so.

HK Electric, one of the two electricity suppliers in Hong Kong, the other being China Light & Power, plans to develop an offshore wind farm southwest of Lamma Island in support of the government's goal of achieving net-zero electricity generation and carbon neutrality by 2050.

In 2021, total spending for energy transition attracted a record US$755 billion of investment, according to a report by BloombergNEF (BNEF), a research provider. Investment surged by 27%, the report notes, driven by electric transport. “However, spending must ramp up significantly to reach net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century,” it says. BNEF estimates that US$2.1 trillion of investment is needed in the energy transition from 2022 to 2025.

The Philippines’ largest lender BDO Unibank is issuing the country’s first blue bond to help tackle marine pollution and preserve clean water resources, while supporting the Philippines’ climate goals. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is subscribing up to US$100 million to the blue bond, which is aimed at increasing access to financing for blue projects.

In 2007, Chile was as dependent on imported natural gas from Argentina as Germany is today on natural gas from Russia. But in the face of a sudden supply shock, the Chilean government was able to mitigate the economic damage and lay the foundation for the country’s shift to renewables

A number of Asian countries are more vulnerable to climate change due to greater exposure to risks arising from misalignment with low-carbon transition, according to a new report. Corporates and financial institutions in the region can alleviate such threats, and be better positioned to seize related opportunities, by adopting proactive climate risk analysis and management, according to the report, Pricing Climate Risks in Asia, from Center for Green Finance Research (CGFR) under Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Financial Research.

Malaysia’s Islamic bank MBSB Bank priced on April 4 its inaugural sustainability sukuk offering amounting to 300 million ringgit (US$70.60 million) as part of its continued effort to grow its sustainable assets – underscoring its commitment towards its sustainability agenda.

The net-zero transition requires the rapid development at scale of new technologies, energy-efficient infrastructure, and carbon capture and storage. A carbon price, together with the elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, would give investors powerful incentives to finance these and other imperatives

Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to provide a sustainability-linked USD trade finance credit facility and a sustainability-linked hedging arrangement for Hong Kong-based printing company Leo Paper Group.