Opening Remarks: The Net-Zero Journey: The Changing Role of Regulators?

We are amidst a huge climate crisis, and the time for action is now. This was the clear message delivered by Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative in his opening remarks. Kicking off the CONNECT series in Singapore, it was acknowledged that our host nation as well as those in ASEAN are particularly exposed to climate disasters, and there are huge economies in the Asia-Pacific which are crucial to have allied in the climate fight. Though the green bond market nears USD2 trillion in market volume to date, we need to reach 5 trillion in green issuance per year by 2025 — a big chunk of this target figure is expected to come from Asia. Today was about realising the severity of climate risk, but the opportunity in the just transition to climate-aligned resilient world. 

There’s no time to lose. Urgency is key to scaling up climate capital in time to avert climate collapse; It is also key to Singapore Stock Exchange’s approach to the challenge ahead, Herry Cho asserted as she opened a discussion on the journey to net-zero. Though great hope lies in the soaring ambition in national net-zero journeys across the region, now is the time for action. Without urgency Cho forewarned, we are at risk of a disorderly transition – a slower transition heightening chaos and greater physical risk. Instead, we need to fast tilt the economy to green infrastructure in green cities, for green futures. We need to imagine the future we need and create it.

 

During the first session "Going Beyond Green: is Asia ready for transition?", the speakers reflected on the challenges and complexity of how the countries in the region can work together to reach a coherent Taxonomy. They also highlighted the importance of sharing data, economic restructuring, tech advances, resilience, adaptation, and mitigation. Especially on emerging markets.

The global rise of regulatory frameworks in recent years was hailed as ‘taxomania’, by Sean Kidney as he moderated the panel. Taxonomies, it was heard, create something very difficult: a shopping list for a green future across the breadth of economic sectors relied upon by modern civilization. But their operation is simple, claimed Bloomberg’s Nadia Humphreys . ‘Much like a car, the nuts and bolts of its constuction is complex engineering, but ultimately operating it is a matter of getting inside and getting going.’ Taxonomies can be of similar use for climate finance.  

The panel agreed on the vital importance of international operability of taxonomies. As different taxonomy regimes are arising across continents and nations, companies should not have to be issuing bonds trying to fulfill the criteria of different taxonomies to appease investors. Likewise, investors in Europe should be able to see an issuance under criteria of an Asian taxonomy and be confident it will meet their own investment standards and values. As our CONNECT series from moves Singapore to our Global event in London, we will be joined by taxonomies experts in Europe and South America, to hear more on making taxonomy regimes interoperable.
 

In the day’s final session, panelists discussed the role of Governments in climate change mitigation. We heard an overview of Japan's approach to carbon neutrality and its continued efforts to support the transition of emerging markets. We also heard an overview of Hong Kong's carbon neutrality plan which highlighted  the importance of increasing investments in climate resilient cities and the role of patient capital. Of course, environmental detriment of the scale in which we are faced requires a response that pervades national borders and elicits harmonious international action. We will pick up where we left off here, in our ‘Governments Driving Change’ session at the Global Conference. There we will be joined by Danish Climate Ambassador Tomas Anker Christensen, Martin Spolc – a lead figure in the EU Commission’s work on sustainable finance and Moody’s Rahul Ghosh.