[COP28 Side Event]Decarbonizing Southeast Asia: The role of business sector and developing financing institutions in materializing net zero ambitions

Noriko Yamada
Global Environment Department
Technical Advisor

Date: 6/12/2023
Host:JICA, Co-Host: PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur(PT SMI)
Location（Pavilion Name）：IDFC

Dr. Megumi MUTO
JICA
Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer

Mr. Edwin Syahruzad
PT Sarana Multi Infrastruktur(PT SMI)
President Director

Mr. Koji Fukuda
JICA Project for Support for planning and implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions in Vietnam（SPI-NDC）
Chief Advisor

Ms. Nguyen Nhat Ha Chi*
Dragon Capital
ESG Manager

Ms. Miki Yamanaka
Daikin Co., Ltd.
Senior Manager, CSR and Global Environment Center

Dr. Lung Quang Huy
Dept of Climate Change, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE)
Head of Mitigation Division

Mr. Masamichi Kono
MUFG
Senior Advisor

Mr. Pradana Murti
PT SMI
Director of Risk Management

Mr. Hiroshi Ota
Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc
Fellow, Sustainability Office

Ms. Chikako Matsumoto
Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.
Executive Officer

This session touched on the dynamic and rapidly growing Southeast Asia, and invited key speakers from development financing institutions, private sector, banking institution, and government officials from the region to deep dive into in-country efforts currently being made, and collectively discussed the following aspects of implementation.

This event was divided into two Sessions, where Session 1 discussed about the Country Experiences of Private Sector Engagement in Net Zero and Session 2 focused on the Role of Financing Institutions.

In her opening remarks, Dr. Muto, CSO of JICA, emphasized the importance of collaboration among diverse actors in the context of decarbonization of Asian coutnries like Indonesia and Vietnam while the President Director of PT SMI, Mr. Edwin Shahrouzad, mentioned his commitment to spearheading efforts to achieve net zero emissions.

In the Session1, the moderator of the panel discussion, Mr. Fukuda, started by setting the scene on ongoing efforts in Southeast Asia to achieve net-zero emissions. Ms. Yamanaka of Daikin explained that her company aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and that high-efficiency air conditioners are expected to reduce energy consumption by half. Ms. Nguyen Nhat Ha Chi of Dragon Capital explained that they are conducting a climate-related risk analysis of their portfolio based on the TCFD recommendations, but also stated that there are challenges in the evaluation and verification of their projects. Finally, Mr. Lung Quang Huy of the Vietnam MONRE shared that renewable energy has expanded rapidly in Vietnam over the past 20 years, but that transitions needs to proceed fairly and that it is important to strengthen capacity for project operations.

In Session 2, the moderator of the panel discussion, Mr. Kono of MUFG Bank opened the session by sharing the need to increase five folds the investment in low-carbon projects and ongoing discussions related to bankability. The panelists, Ms. Matsumoto, Executive Officer of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, shared their experience on the implementation of impact equity investment and pointed out that the challenges are to develop a framework including human resources and the government of each coutry to formulate policies for transition. Some examples of solar panel leasing projects and investments in forest funds were also shared. Mr. Ota, a fellow of Daichi Life Insurance, member of the Private Sector Investment Lab established by the World Bank, pointed on the importance of risk sharing through insurance and securitization schemes. Mr. Pradana Murti of PT SMI1, Acredited Entity of the GCF, explained that PT SMI has been supporting renewable energy projects since 2010, and shared their current effort for the establishment of a blended finance platform. Finally, Ms. Muto, CSO of JICA, stated that JICA is one of the few development finance institutions that combine technical and financial cooperation and can play a key role to connect developing countries and development finance community in developed countries. She also announced JICA's official participation in the Asian Transition Finance Study Group.