Sustainable Debt Asia 2024

Welcome Remarks: Environmental Finance

Opening Address

Herry Cho, Managing Director, Head of Sustainability and Sustainable Finance, SGX Group

Panel discussion: Transition takes centre stage in Asia - Broadening the regional development of transition finance

• How to achieve greater regional consensus on the definition of transition, acceptable transition activities, transition targets and the development of a just transition pathway?
• Does Asia require a more flexible approach to transition finance capable of adapting to country, sector and company specific situations?
• What impact will Japan's sovereign climate transition bond have on the development of the transition label regionally across Asia?
• Addressing the need for increased transparency and detail in credible transition plans at a country and company/issuer level
• Ensuring hard to abate sectors can access transition finance whilst maintaining the integrity of transition labelled products
• Will the transition label continue to develop predominantly through UoP or KPI-linked structures?

Moderator:
Environmental Finance

Speakers:
Olivier Ménard, Head of the Green & Sustainable Finance, Asia Pacific, NATIXIS CIB
Bertrand Jabouley, Head of Sustainable Finance, Asia-Pacific, S&P Global Ratings
Yuki Yasui, APAC Managing Director, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)
Mervyn Tang, Head of Sustainability, APAC, Schroders

Panel discussion: Addressing the challenges facing Sustainability-Linked finance

• How are concerns around the integrity and robustness of KPIs and SPTs impacting demand for sustainability-linked bonds and sustainability-linked loans?
• How are issuers and investors evaluating the benefits vs risks? Do local investors view these structures differently from international investors?
• Differences in perspective between public and private markets for sustainability-linked products
• How can SPO providers help support the integrity of sustainability-linked structures – including initiatives to increase transparency of assessment methodologies?
• Helping issuers to select credible KPIs and develop a robust monitoring and reporting process
• What role can sustainability-linked structures play as a key transition tool (incorporating transition KPIs and SPTs) especially for hard to abate sectors?
• Do UoP bonds have a role to play in financing of SLLs? How do SPOs assess such structures and how do investors view them? What should the preferred structure look like?

Moderator:
Ricco Zhang, Senior Director, Asia Pacific, International Capital Market Association

Speakers:

Antoine Rose, Head of Sustainable Investment Banking for Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, Crédit Agricole CIB
Foo Peng Er, Vice President, Group Sustainability, CapitaLand Investment
Frank Reynaerts, Senior Credit Analyst, Robeco
Patrick Tan, Head of Banking, RGE

Panel discussion: The role of regional taxonomies and regulation in supporting transition and the development of sustainable debt markets in Asia

• What impact will the recent development of regional taxonomies (including transition categories) have on the growth of transition finance and transition labelled products?
• What are the key differences between the taxonomies and how can we achieve greater harmonisation between them?
• How are issuers thinking about evolving their sustainable finance programmes to align with taxonomy development in their countries? To what extent will issuers in hard to abate sectors be able to align to them?
• How will local and international investors respond to these regional taxonomies and to issuance related to transition activities?
• Outlook and timeline for the adoption of the ISSB's Sustainability Reporting Standards in Asia – to what extent will local disclosure initiatives mirror or diverge from the ISSB standard?
• How ready are companies in the region to start reporting under forthcoming sustainability standards and what steps should they take now to prepare?

Moderator:
Sheela Veerappan, Global ESG Integration Lead, Nikko Asset Management

Speakers:
Eugene Wong, CEO, Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA)
Joanne Khew, Director, ESG Specialist, Eastspring Investments
Purdie Bowden, Policy and Sustainable Finance Solutions Lead, Australian Sustainable Finance Institute (ASFI)
Sylvia Chen, Head of ESG, South Asia, Amundi

Panel discussion: Finding and scaling the next frontier in ESG labelled bonds

• What is the future potential for biodiversity and natural capital labelled instruments in Asia? How to effectively embed biodiversity into sustainable finance instruments
• How can investors accurately track biodiversity impacts and how will this affect their investment choices?
• The outlook for blue bonds – where are we seeing growth in issuance (by country and sector)? What opportunities do they present for hard to abate sectors (like shipping and ports)?
• How can sovereign issuers help the bond market to scale blue finance, biodiversity and natural capital?
• Food security – identifying regional opportunities for social and green bond issuance in agriculture and food production
• How is the market for gender equality/orange bonds developing in Asia?

Moderator:
Claudia Gollmeier, Managing Director, Singapore & Senior Investment Officer, Colchester Global Investors

Speakers:
Jarek Olszowka, Head of Sustainable Finance IBD, Nomura
Robert Kraybill, Managing Director, Portfolio Management & Chief Investment Officer, Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)
Tom Eveson, Vice President, Global Sales, Sustainable Finance and Corporate Solutions, Morningstar Sustainalytics

Panel discussion: Closing the climate finance gap - Sustainable finance and investment in Asian high yield and emerging market debt

• When might there be deeper development of labelled debt in Asian high yield and emerging markets?
• Are current allocations coming primarily from Asian or international investors?
• What is needed to encourage greater international investor engagement in Asian emerging market debt?
• How should investors and banks assess emerging markets when it comes to sustainable finance?
• What are the key considerations and barriers for Asian vs international investors when looking to access Asian emerging markets – do they perceive the benefits vs risks differently?
• Where are the opportunities for international investors looking to make an impact on regional transition?
• Do ESG metrics lead to an inefficient allocation of capital that rewards those countries already doing well?

Moderator:
Genevieve Redgrave, Reporter, Environmental Finance

Speakers:
Jeffrey Lee, Regional Manager APAC Sustainable Finance, Moody's Ratings
Nicole Lim, ESG Investment Manager, Fixed Income, abrdn
Sheng Ou Yong, Green Bonds & ESG Analyst, BNP Paribas Asset Management

Fireside Chat: An Australian issuer's perspective on green and sustainable finance

Andrew Saunders, Executive Director – Sustainability, Queensland Treasury Corporation

Panel discussion: Securing the future growth of the sustainable debt market in Asia

• The outlook for sustainable debt issuance and how growth trajectories for each label compare
• How is the demand for sustainable debt instruments evolving for both local and international investors?
• What can the market do to facilitate the ability of SMEs to access sustainable debt financing in both public and private markets?
• The future role of green enablers and avoided emissions – how to best define green enabling activities and measure the impact of avoided emissions?
• Ensuring greater participation in sustainable debt financing from hard to abate sectors whilst enhancing market integrity and transparency
• How to best deploy sustainable debt finance to address the infrastructure investment gap in Asia

Moderator:
Chee Wee Tan, Head of Sustainability, TPC (Tsao Pao Chee)

Speakers:
Amanda Yap, Head of Sustainability, Fullerton Fund Management
Ana Isabel Gonzalez, Chief Investment Officer, Farringdon Asset Management
Henry Loh, Head of Asia Credit, abrdn
Mayank Vishnoi, Chief Financial Officer – Corporate Finance, ChemOne Group

Closing remarks