Financing the future: Actions for a region in transition

Conflict and climate are two defining challenges of the 21st century, increasingly interconnected in ways that threaten global stability, prosperity, and human security.

‍

Armed conflicts continue to destabilise entire regions, displacing populations and diverting resources away from development and climate action. At the same time, the accelerating impacts of climate change—rising sea levels, extreme weather, and food insecurity—are exacerbating vulnerabilities, often acting as risk multipliers in already fragile settings.

‍

In this fragmented geopolitical landscape, where distrust and protectionism often overshadow collaboration, mobilising capital for sustainable development is becoming more difficult than ever at a time when it is needed most.

‍

As the world faces mounting volatility, leaders must ask: How can they best navigate these intertwined challenges? What resources and data can guide sound investment and policy decisions? And how can trust and multilateralism be reinforced to ensure financial flows align with global priorities?

‍

This opening fireside chat will delve into the innovative approaches that can help overcome fragmentation and unlock the collaborative potential needed to reach our shared Global Goals.

Asia’s transition to a low-carbon economy is rapidly becoming the critical market opportunity of the decade, with sustainable finance emerging as a catalyst for investment, innovation, and regional economic resilience.  

‍

Home to the world’s fastest-rising energy demand, the region is witnessing an acceleration in green bonds, sustainability-linked loans, blended finance and emerging innovative mechanisms as market players respond to evolving climate ambitions, changing geopolitics, policy frameworks, and rising consumer expectations.  

‍

In particular, the emergence of transition finance – which funds carbon-intensive sectors that are committed to credible, time-bound decarbonisation plans – is enabling the region’s notorious hard-to-abate sectors to move progressively towards net zero targets. But what safeguards do we need to ensure these goals are met?

‍

Meanwhile, the twin engines of technological innovation and strategic financing are making Asia an increasingly attractive destination for global capital, setting new benchmarks how we finance the future amid a multipolar world. How can the region capitalise on this momentum to attract large scale capital? What policy frameworks do we need to mobilise financing for the future?

Mobilising the trillions needed for the low-carbon transition requires more than ambition—it demands clarity, scale, and confidence in financial markets. Yet these efforts are constrained today by a multipolar world marked with fragmentation.

With nearly 500 sustainable finance frameworks globally, diverging taxonomies and disclosure standards risk creating silos instead of scale, complicating capital allocation into renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, and transition technologies. Political headwinds—most visible in the US backlash against ESG—threaten to stall momentum towards global alignment.

Convergence initiatives such as the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, the Singapore-Asia Taxonomy, and the ISSB’s IFRS S1 and S2 standards offer a common starting point, but rules alone are not enough. Mobilising finance in a fragmented world also requires de-risking vehicles that crowd in private capital, blended finance models that leverage public funds for impact-driven projects, and policy frameworks that provide the long-term certainty investors need. Equally critical is addressing the cost of capital in emerging markets, where investment is urgently needed but financing remains prohibitively expensive.

High-quality data and disclosures sit at the heart of this transformation, enabling market confidence and accountability. But ultimately, large scale capital will flow only if investors see credible pipelines of bankable, climate-aligned projects underpinned by both strong governance and policy coherence. This plenary convenes experts to explore how to overcome market fragmentation and strengthen the trust and partnerships which can mobilise capital in the current climate.

‍

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping our world at an unprecedented pace, promising enormous potential—and equally dangerous risks —for sustainable development.

‍

The IMF estimates that AI-driven productivity gains could boost global GDP by up to 4 percent in the next decade. Yet these gains will not be shared evenly. Advanced economies, with stronger infrastructure and greater access to data, stand to benefit far more than developing nations, deepening global divides.

‍

At the same time, AI is proving transformative in accelerating integrated nature and climate action —optimising water use, revolutionizing agriculture, and powering climate and weather prediction models that could help societies leapfrog traditional limitations. Yet its benefits come at a huge environmental cost – data centres consume vast amounts of electricity, generating emissions and requiring massive volumes of water. The UN warns that by 2027, AI could be consuming 4.2–6.6 billion cubic meters of water annually—a significant burden on already strained resources.

‍

Debates have emerged whether society should act decisively now to steer this powerful technology toward the common good – or be left to market forces. And if so – what guardrails need to be in place? This plenary debate will put in sharp focus regulatory approaches and how we can meaningfully benefit from AI’s potential and mitigate its risks.

Natural ecosystems provide trillions of dollars in economic value annually, yet many businesses still underestimate the escalating risks that biodiversity loss and climate change pose to supply chains and long-term resilience.

With over half of global GDP moderately or highly dependent on nature, companies face mounting risks from resource scarcity, higher raw material costs and regulatory shifts as governments respond to reverse biodiversity loss, as pledged in the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), a global agreement to protect 30% of the biodiverse areas by 2030. Striking the balancing between ecological conservation and economic stability will be key for the region.

The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) provides a crucial guide for organizations to assess, disclose, and strategically manage nature-related risks and opportunities. Leading Asian companies are setting new benchmarks by embedding nature considerations into their core strategies—moving beyond basic compliance and reframing biodiversity and ecosystem health as indispensable economic assets.

This session will convene early adopters and standard setters to explore the rapidly shifting regulatory landscape and deep dive into why rigorous biodiversity reporting is essential for future-proofing business viability.

‍

Asia is at the heart of the climate crisis, warming at twice the rate of the global average and increasingly besieged by extreme heatwaves, catastrophic floods, and other climate-related disasters. The consequences are significant – beyond the trillions of dollars in economic losses and infrastructure damage, healthcare systems are under mounting stress as global warming worsens vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity, and mental health challenges driven by repeated shocks.

According to the World Health Organization, climate change is projected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year worldwide between 2030 and 2050 —impacts that will fall disproportionately on vulnerable communities who often lack access to healthcare, insurance coverage, or financial safety nets.  

Insurance can play a critical role in closing this protection gap, offering innovative mechanisms such as climate risk insurance, parametric payouts for extreme weather events, and microinsurance for low-income households. These solutions, when paired with nature-based adaptation measures and early-warning systems, can help safeguard livelihoods and speed recovery from climate shocks.

Asia must urgently strengthen climate resiliency through integrated approaches that connect planetary health, human wellbeing, and financial protection. This includes mobilising capital for the climate-health nexus—one of the most underfunded areas globally—while expanding inclusive insurance schemes that ensure no one is left behind.

This session brings together leaders in climate, health, and financial services to chart pathways that can withstand the accelerating impacts of climate change, protect public health, and direct investment and insurance innovation to the regions and communities most at risk.

‍

Asia Pacific’s race toward net-zero economies by 2050 is driving a new wave of innovation and policy action to scale carbon removal and management solutions.

‍

Across the region, governments are advancing frameworks to enable this transition. Singapore is forging cross-border carbon trading through bilateral agreements under Article 6.2 of the Paris Agreement; Malaysia has introduced a Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) Act and China has launched a national carbon trading scheme to accelerate collaboration on decarbonisation.

‍

Beyond technological advances, Asia Pacific hosts some of the world’s richest natural carbon sinks – including forests, peatlands and coastal ecosystems – that play a crucial role in large-scale, nature-based carbon sequestration.

‍

With carbon removal demand projected to reach 1–8 billion tonnes annually by 2050, the challenge lies in scaling these solutions both rapidly and responsibly. High-integrity carbon projects must balance growth with environmental protection, ensuring credibility and climate impact.

‍

This session brings together leading investors and experts to explore how technology, policy, and cross-border partnerships can unlock the region’s carbon ecosystem potential — while navigating risks and ensuring equitable, verifiable outcomes.