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Issue 172: Asean Taxonomy’s unfinished business; data centres encroach on palm oil

This week in ESG: Asean launches complete version of sustainable finance criteria; Malaysian plantations to build green data centres

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Kenneth Lim

Kenneth Lim

Published Fri, Nov 21, 2025 · 07:00 PM
    • Singapore and Indonesia use different criteria for financing the early retirement of coal plants.
    • Singapore and Indonesia use different criteria for financing the early retirement of coal plants. ILLUSTRATION: KENNETH LIM

    Sustainable finance

    More work ahead for complete Asean Taxonomy

    Four years after its launch, the Asean Taxonomy is finally complete, providing markets in South-east Asia with a comprehensive regional definition of activities that are eligible for sustainable finance in nine priority areas.

    Yet the emergence of significantly different taxonomies among the region’s major economies suggest that a mountain of work lies ahead to improve interoperability in South-east Asia’s developing sustainable finance ecosystem.

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    ESG Insightssustainable financeTransition financesustainable investingPalm oilData centresESGAseanGreen taxonomy

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