November 5th, 2024
How to Accelerate Decarbonization in Asia - New Approaches of Sustainable Finance
Countries around the world are promoting decarbonization policies to achieve carbon neutrality targets. On the other hand, many emerging and developing Asian countries depend on fossil fuels to meet their growing energy needs, and they face the major challenge of raising the necessary funds for decarbonization efforts. There is some funding support from Multilateral Development Banks such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank Group, but there is still a significant funding shortage, so it is essential to attract private funding and accelerate decarbonization.
The webinar explored how to provide funding for decarbonization in emerging and developing Asian countries and what role financial institutions can play. To increase the number of bankable projects, it was suggested that there is a need for an investment environment that would enable the acceleration and scaling up of projects in Asian countries. Global partnerships and coordination are essential, not only for regional issues but also for global issues. Additionally, there was a lively exchange of opinions on various points, including financial institution's stance on different power sources in Asian countries and the issues surrounding green bonds.
| Date ＆ Time | Tuesday, November 5, 2024, 14:00-15:30 (JST) |
|---|---|
| Host | Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA) |
| Progress | Panelist Presentations and Panel Discussion |
| Event Style | Virtual Event via Zoom |
| Video | Click Here |
Panelists (in speaking order)
Kavita Sinha Presentation Slides
Director, Department of the Private Sector Facility, Green Climate Fund (GCF)
Kavita Sinha is the Director of the Private Sector Facility. Previously, she was with the European Climate Foundation (ECF), where she was the program director for energy transition in Asia and also helped set up the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility and was the interim director for the Southeast Asia Energy Transition Partnership. Prior to ECF, she spent more than 15 years in leadership roles in the corporate world – from start-ups to multinational corporations across multiple sectors. She co-founded and successfully exited start-ups in clean energy and infrastructure services. She also worked for nearly a decade with the U.S. Agency for International Development, where she held several program management roles, including climate impact.
She has an MBA from Rutgers Business School, USA, and an honors degree in Chemical Engineering as well as graduate studies in energy systems from leading engineering schools in India. She has also received training in sustainable investing, international relations, and political economy.
Yukimi Shimura Presentation Slides
Managing Director in charge of Corporate Engagement on GX and Sustainability, MUFG Bank, Ltd.
Joined at MUFG Bank from April 2020, Yukimi is taking a role as an inhouse consultant for MUFG Bank's sustainability initiatives, including financing innovative projects such as hydrogen, ammonia, CCUS, floating offshore wind and circular economy, carbon credit consideration and non-financial disclosure issues to assist customers in their journey to carbon neutrality. Over 15 years of experiences as a consultant for energy, climate change and environmental issues and recently on sustainability matters, Yukimi had worked with various energy saving auditing and project developments contributing to GHG emissions reduction and sequestration in developing countries with/without carbon credit generation benefits. Prior to joining MUFG Bank, she worked for Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies and International Energy Agency. She is also serving as members to some of the Japanese government committees.
Moderator
Hiroshi Watanabe
President, Institute for International Monetary Affairs (IIMA)
Hiroshi Watanabe after graduating from the University of Tokyo joined the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in 1972. Before retiring as Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs in 2007, he occupied various senior positions at the MOF. He later took high positions in Japan Finance Corporation before his appointment as the President of JBIC in 2013. Since October 2016 he has been the President of the IIMA.