WE HAVE till 2030 to cut emissions by nearly half and less than 30 years to reach net zero, to keep global warming to within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Climate change is already happening rapidly with global warming at 1.1 deg C above pre-industrial levels, the warmest in 125,000 years.

Green finance has emerged as a key enabler for the transition to a sustainable future as it comprises all forms of investment or lending to mobilise capital towards investments that help to fulfil commitments under the Paris Agreement to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The good news is the volume of assets invested in sustainable projects is rising rapidly. Multilateral banks are deploying more capital to support sustainability. Central banks like the Monetary Authority of Singapore have committed US$1.8 billion of its reserves to climate-related investments. The bad news is that green and transition finance have not been well-presented and are unable to reach the scale of the estimated US$7 trillion infrastructure investments required.