Five priority levers will offer concrete investible opportunities and drive 60 percent of Southeast Asia's carbon abatement potential, according to a new report released at Ecosperity Week, an annual sustainability event held by government-owned Temasek Holdings, on Tuesday.
The Southeast Asia's Green Economy 2022 Report, which is jointly produced by a collaboration between Bain & Company, Microsoft and Temasek, said that these five levers are forest conservation, renewables (solar and wind), electric mobility, sustainable farming and built environment.
The report said that forest conservation is a growing investible space in Southeast Asia, and particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia. It is the largest carbon abatement lever in the region and will represent a 20-billion-U.S. dollar opportunity by 2030.
Renewables (solar and wind) represent a 30-billion-dollar opportunity by 2030, of which solar represents 20 billion dollars. Corporate investment in renewable energy solutions is accelerating in the region and accounted for at least 6.6 billion dollars in corporate green investment since 2020.
E-mobility looks poised to take off in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, especially for two-wheeler EV manufacturing and sales due to strong automotive manufacturing expertise in these markets.
As to sustainable farming, precision agriculture and farmer service platforms present a large potential opportunity to drive yield improvements and reduce emissions. Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are most attractive due to infrastructure readiness and strong regulatory support.
In respect of built environment, there are significant opportunities in energy-saving cooling technology and green building products in construction. The most attractive opportunity can be found in efficient cooling solutions, with large potential for green building materials and products.
According to the report, Southeast Asia needs to address emissions gap and concrete roadmaps to achieve 2030 goals, and prioritize the most investable and addressable decarbonization pathways for the decade.
"With its vibrant and dynamic digital-fuelled economy, Southeast Asia has tremendous potential to make long term, meaningful impact in the global green transition," said Steve Howard, Chief Sustainability Officer of Temasek.
"The opportunities are immense, but it will take collective will, unprecedented collaboration and meaningful financing to unlock the full potential of decarbonization levers across all green investment asset classes."
Dale Hardcastle, partner and director of the Global Sustainability Innovation Center at Bain & Company, said that Southeast Asia needs to move from promises to action, and bridging the gap between opportunities and results will be a key milestone.
"We remain bullish on the 1 trillion U.S. dollars economic opportunities in Southeast Asia, but we need to step up as a region to strengthen the investable market and increase green capital flows," he said.
Editor: Galia
