As we finally near the end of the year, we've got one last newsletter for you.
In here you'll find the usual Asia deal news, 3 Things in Impact, and upcoming events (with matching dates and days!). Scroll all the way to see some of our favourite photos from our 2023 events!
Looking forward to seeing you all in the New Year.
In recent sustainable finance ASIA DEAL NEWS...
DBS-backed Asia Impact First fund invests S$2m in social enterprise Bettr: The fund is supported by prominent family offices and within the year has invested USD $1.5m already.
responsAbility Launches $500 Million Asia-Focused Climatetech Investment Strategy: In conjunction with Germany’s development bank KfW and the Dutch development bank FMO,the fund is aimed at actively contributing to CO2 reduction in Asia through targeted investments in low-emission technologies.
Mizuho Invests in CIX to Expand Carbon Credit Market Japan: Singapore-based Climate Impact X was launched in 2021 through a joint venture between DBS, Singapore Exchange (SGX), Standard Chartered and Temasek.
Read on for 3 Things in Impact...
1. Is Private Credit on the Rise in APAC?
In a recent white paper, KKR outlines the supply and demand factors shaping the growth of private credit in APAC.
It covers how different types of private credit strategies can help fill in financing gaps for sponsors and companies, and relative value in the market, and the importance of deep local relationships in a complex and diverse region.
2. Fossil Fules and COP28
COP28 is currently underway to look at how far the world has come in tackling the climate crisis since the Paris 2015 summit.
Greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change and at the COP28 summit, nations will need to decide to either gradually "phase out" global consumption of fossil fuels and replace them with sources including solar and wind.
The question bears asking: Is an attempt at inclusive dialolgue preventing COP from effecting any real change when oil companies can lobby to protect profits and petrostates can block consensus voting?
Read on for more from climate activist Al Gore: https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/al-gore-slams-cop28-climate-summit-host-uae-says-its-emissions-soared-2023-12-03/
Read on: https://tinyurl.com/4efjnwer
3. What we learned at China 2023 ESG Ecological Conference
SFi Associate Mandy Chiang recently had the opportunity to travel to Shenzhen where she attended the annual conference to strengethen her insight and knowledge of the sustainable finance investing ecosystem in mainland China.
Key Takeaways:
For agriculture, the success of “rural revitalization” does not depend on the speed of introducing advanced technologies, but on the depth and breadth of the use of technologies. Rural revitalisation”/”Food & Agriculture” is important in China mainly for 2 reasons: 1.The most affected group from climate disasters is the agriculture group rather urban cities and 2. We should invest in the creation of rural jobs for rural areas.
We're reminded of a recent conversation with Albamen Capital who leverages new energy technology deployment in bringing jobs back to rural areas.
If you are interested to learn more about the China ESG market, we have recently published more here.
Thank you for supporting SFi. If you enjoy our newsletter, please forward it to a friend to subscribe to our monthly newsletter with this link.
With the very best wishes,
SFi Team