To Reach Net Zero, $4 Will Need to Be Invested into the Green Economy for Every $1 Outlay in Fossil Fuels

Existing financing going into the renewable energy sector is not enough, warned experts at the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) fourth Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS).

Members of the “Financing Net Zero” high-level plenary panel said that at present the ratio of investments going into fossil fuel and the renewable energy sectors is on par. To meet net-zero targets, for every $1 of existing investment into the fossil fuel industry, $4 will need to be invested into the green economy or the renewable energy sector, the panel said.

The panel examined innovative ways of sourcing capital for climate action and discussed how countries could speed decarbonization by introducing policies encouraging the shift to renewable energy, mainstreaming climate action in every activity, and clarifying green taxonomies.

Speakers

• Ramesh Subramaniam, Director General, Southeast Asia Department, ADB
• Felipe Medalla, Governor, Philippine Central Bank
• Yuki Yasui, Managing Director, Asia–Pacific Network, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero
• Herry Cho, Managing Director, Head of Sustainability and Sustainable Finance, Singapore Exchange
• Moderator: David Ingles, TV Anchor and Chief Markets Editor, Bloomberg TV APAC

With the theme, "Imagining a Net-Zero ASEAN," SEADS 2023 explored measures governments, communities, and the private sector could take to progress toward carbon neutrality.