S1E47: Green Finance 101 (Pt 1): Directing capital to meet climate goals - Green Pulse Ep 47

Apr 4, 2021

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Green Pulse Ep 47: Green Finance 101 (Pt 1): Directing capital to meet climate goals

19:10 mins

Synopsis: Every first and third Monday of the month, The Straits Times analyses the beat of the changing environment, from biodiversity conservation to climate change in this podcast series.

Finance is the fuel that keeps economies humming. And with countries now wanting to build back better from the economic fall-out from Covid-19, there is now a global momentum to ensure that finance is green. In March 2021, an Asean taxonomy board was established to provide a framework to guide green investments in the region. But what exactly does green finance entail, and why is it important for various nations to adopt? And how will it help the world avoid the harshest impacts of climate change?

In the first of a two-part episode on green finance, ST environment correspondent Audrey Tan and climate change editor David Fogarty discuss the topic with two experts in the field of sustainable finance. Hear from Mr Eugene Wong, chief executive of the Sustainable Finance Institute Asia, as well as Mr Anders Nordheim, who is senior vice president for Asia sustainable finance at the World Wild Fund for Nature Singapore.

They discuss the following points:

Difference between green, climate and sustainable finance, and how they differ from usual financing schemes (1:09)
Measures in place to prevent green finance from being used for unsustainable or climate-unfriendly projects (8:18)
Importance of hammering out definitions on what constitutes a “green” project for the region (9:03)
How can retail investors participate in green finance? (15:05)

Listen to Pt 2: Green Finance 101 (Pt 2) - Understanding carbon services https://omny.fm/shows/green-pulse-1/understanding-carbon-services-green-pulse-ep-48

Produced by: Audrey Tan (audreyt@sph.com.sg), David Fogarty (dfogarty@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Adam Azlee

Edited by: Adam Azlee

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