ASEAN Sustainable Finance
The ASEAN sustainable finance market performed strongly despite the negative impact of COVID-19, focusing the attention on the need for a sustainable economic recovery. The composition of the market is noticeably different in 2020, with a much more even split between the Green, Social and Sustainability (GSS) themes. ASEAN issuance of GSS bonds and loans reached USD12.8 billion in 2020, a 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y increase from USD11.5 billion issued in 2019. The cumulative issuance in ASEAN since 2016 now stands at USD29.4 billion.
To reflect the extraordinary market conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Climate Bonds Initiative’s (CBI) ASEAN Sustainable Finance State of the Market 2020 report brought forward an evaluation of the broader sustainable finance market in this report, covering social and sustainability bonds, in addition to green bonds and loans.
The report presents the progress made and the sustainable finance opportunities lying ahead for the ASEAN countries, including an overview of the region’s wider labelled bond and loan market, namely the sustainability-linked instruments. The report also highlights key policy and market developments that would further the development of the ASEAN sustainable finance market, such as the development of sustainable finance taxonomies, relevant Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) initiatives, and climate risk management practices.
Finally, the report provides country-level overviews and policy updates for Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.