ASEAN Addresses Implementation Challenges at ICAEW Sustainability Summit
The inaugural ICAEW ASEAN Sustainability Summit 2025 convened over 1,100 participants to discuss translating sustainability commitments into operational strategies. Held at the Securities Commission Malaysia on 25 November 2025, the hybrid event gathered policymakers, regulators, and finance leaders under the theme “ASEAN Rising: The Net Zero Playbook”.
The summit addressed how the region can balance economic growth with climate accountability while ensuring an inclusive transition.
Finance Professionals’ Role in Sustainability Transformation
Alan Vallance, Chief Executive of ICAEW [pic], outlined the accountancy profession’s position in sustainability transformation. “As finance professionals, we hold the data, insights and trust that underpin financial decisions,” he stated, describing how the profession can bridge ethics, transparency and financial integrity with real-world impact.
Panel discussions featured experts from PETRONAS, HSBC Malaysia, KPMG Malaysia, PwC Malaysia, Deloitte Southeast Asia, City Developments Limited Singapore, Olam Agri, and the University of Oxford. The representation reflected the cross-sector collaboration required for climate action implementation.
Capacity Building Initiatives
Elaine Hong, ICAEW Director for Southeast Asia, observed that the region’s transition “cannot happen in silos” and requires alignment, trust and shared purpose. ICAEW’s initiatives—including the Sustainability Accelerator Programme and its Sustainability and Climate Change Community—are working to build regional capacity in carbon accounting, sustainability assurance, and scenario planning.
The summit’s five thematic sessions examined Ethics and Sustainability, Accelerating Sustainability Reporting and Assurance, Green Financing, Climate Scenario Analysis, and the evolving role of finance professionals from “Number Cruncher to Value Creator”. These sessions addressed challenges facing the region as it implements IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (S1 and S2).
Nature-Based Financing: An Overlooked Opportunity
During panel discussions, Esther Lee, Chief Sustainability Officer at City Developments Limited, highlighted a critical gap in current financing priorities. “One gap that I would like to highlight is loss of nature is actually neglected very badly,” she observed, noting that five out of ten risks in the World Economic Forum’s ten-year global risk projection are nature-related. “We always say that climate risk and nature risk are two sides of the same coin. And the world will not be able to achieve net zero if you don’t really conserve or regenerate nature”.
Lee emphasized the economic significance of natural ecosystems: “Fifty percent of global GDP rely heavily or moderately on nature-related ecosystem. You look around, agriculture, fishing, hospitality, F&B, all these are depending on nature”. She suggested that “the next big thing will be nature investment, nature-related investment,” particularly given that “especially in our part of the world, we are blessed with very rich biodiversity, rainforest and all that”.
Southeast Asia holds approximately 30% of global potential for carbon offsets from nature-based solutions by 2050, with the region possessing the world’s largest “blue carbon” storage capacity at 4.8 billion MgC. The value of ecosystem services from NbS projects in Southeast Asia is estimated at over USD 2.19 trillion annually.
Financing mechanisms for NbS include Nature Bonds, Payments for Ecosystem Services, and Results-Based Financing. The EU and ASEAN announced the Nature Solutions Finance Hub (NSFH) with EUR 15 million in EU contribution, targeting EUR 1.5 billion in nature-positive investment by 2030. Regional carbon markets are developing, with Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia establishing voluntary carbon markets that create financial incentives for ecosystem protection and restoration.
Challenges remain in transitioning NbS projects from public funding to commercial viability, alongside the need for harmonized standards for project development, monitoring, and verification across borders. Guarantees and blended finance structures are being explored as tools to de-risk NbS investments and attract private capital.
Innovative Financing Approaches
The panel highlighted examples of financing innovation across the region. Lee shared CDL’s experience pioneering Singapore’s first green bond in 2017, and the company has since accumulated over SGD 10 billion in sustainable finance through various instruments. She described sustainability-linked loans as particularly effective: “We set target, whether you achieve it or not, you will be rewarded if you achieve it. If you don’t, you will not enjoy any discount”.
Kevin Lau from KPMG Malaysia noted regional innovations including Malaysia’s position as global leader in Islamic green finance and the world’s first climate Sukuk, which integrates Islamic finance, carbon credits and digital innovation. He also mentioned collaborative platforms such as Singapore’s Project Green print and the ASEAN Interconnected Sustainability Ecosystem connecting four stock exchanges.
Jean Bouquot, President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), noted in his closing remarks that strong governance, consistent disclosure, and regional capacity building are essential to unlocking sustainable finance and long-term resilience. The summit concluded with calls from speakers and participants to embed ethics, data quality, and transparency at the core of ASEAN’s sustainability frameworks.
The event provided a forum for examining the region’s progression from sustainability planning to implementation, supported by policy frameworks, professional expertise, and emerging financing mechanisms for its net-zero objectives.
