Pressure on companies does pay off, as Asia's largest utilities companies cooperate with investor demand for action on decarbonisation, a recently released report says.
In an exclusive interview, Cathay Financial's president lists collaborations with high emitters and carbon-driven remuneration policies as a strategy to decarbonise its portfolio.
Investors believe that institutional investments in alternative energy hold the key to the global decarbonisation effort and represent the next big step in the energy transition.
Institutional investors will need to look beyond their own portfolios to achieve net zero. But does this mean making a deal with big oil and other polluters?
Adoption of a real estate benchmark in Asia is increasing as leading European pension funds place reporting at the heart of their emissions reduction efforts.
Growth trumps green credentials in much of corporate Asia, but the pension fund insists it can use its ownership position to foster greater climate consciousness.
The move follows elevation of ESG from investment risk to a corporate risk and a substantial rotation from active to passive mandates, and is likely to presage additional ESG hires.
Genetic code-tweaking of trees to absorb more carbon, and sustainable cultivation of forests for wood products, are examples of investment bets being made by the Singaporean state-owned investor to address climate change.
Interest to invest in China’s decarbonisation is aplenty — but foreign asset owners are waiting for the country to drop its Covid Zero policies first, before assessing these opportunities.