It has been estimated that ASEAN markets will need around USD 200 billion in green investment annually until 2030 to finance the sustainable development of Asian economies. To identify good practices in green integrity and social contributions, however, sustainability-conscious investors will need to face various challenges including the lack of harmonisation between the different standards, guidelines and taxonomies, as well as the expectation gap between issuers and investors regarding project transparency and impact assessment.
To resolve these misalignments and expectation gaps, Carbon Care Asia and Solactive AG jointly developed a Sustainability Bond Index which builds in two levels of filters to ensure that the green, social and sustainability bonds issued in Asia Pacific demonstrate quality disclosure and positive environmental and social outcomes. This issue highlights the latest development of the sustainability bond market and explains how this Index can help the wider investment community to navigate the labyrinth.