As more than 300 delegates started arriving at Singapore’s Mandarin Oriental for this year’s Climate Group Asia Action Summit, the energy was instant.
With a line-up of speakers from Singapore, China, India, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and Korea, the event crossed borders, sectors, and languages in search of fresh insights, a better understanding of challenges and opportunities, and solutions.
"Asia Pacific is at the heart of the climate change story. It’s time,” urged host Ishika Mookerjee, Asia ESG & Climate Reporter at Bloomberg, before introducing Helen Clarkson, our CEO, who put a direct question to delegates:
“How do we continue to drive progress towards a solution?”
It set the scene for a day that moved from Green Electricity Certificates in China to Europe’s CBAM, from the impact of AI and data centres to the potential of an ASEAN grid, from clean technology to subnational climate funds.
, ,What came through, in conversation after conversation, was a distinct sense of pragmatism – and confidence. Key players in Asia are keen to move the transition forward; to them, it makes clear business sense.
That kind of corporate leadership was on full display in Singapore. Asian companies are setting increasingly ambitious targets, panellists highlighted, and they are striving for a new transparency.
In this context, disclosure can be turned into “a competitive edge,” Jose Ordonez, Chief Revenue Officer & Managing Director APAC, CDP, argued.
The sentiment that was echoed by Peter Bakker, President & CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, who urged companies to “disclose more and disclose better”.
Read the live blog , ,Renewables were top of the agenda, of course. But if Asia’s boom continues, there’s also an acute awareness of just how rapidly renewables need to be scaled to meet the region’s growing energy demand.
The signs are good, though: "More governments are opening the door for corporates to enter into the renewable energy space," Alain Mahieu, Director, Sustainability Solutions, Engie Impact, said. (Our flagship RE100 initiative supports the roll-out of renewables in markets around the world. More here.)
Sam Kimmins, Director of Energy at Climate Group, agreed: “Asian business leaders want renewable electricity. What we need is credible connections, credible tracking, and regulatory alignment […] across Asian markets.”
, ,A major news moment arrived when Yuechun Yi, First Deputy Director-General, China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI), took the stage to announce that China’s Green Electricity Certificates (GECs) have been aligned with international standards.
The landmark move follows two years of consultation with Climate Group’s RE100. It means companies can now use GECs confidently – knowing that the renewables they buy are having a verifiable, real-world impact.
Read more , ,Another consensus that ran through the Summit was on partnerships and collaboration – vital ingredients to accelerate the transition.
June Kunugi, East Asia and Pacific Office Regional Director, UNICEF, illustrated this point in a session on greater public-private collaboration. UNICEF urged business leaders and investors to make children a focus of their climate strategies. (More here.)
Elsewhere, our Under2 Coalition – which turns 10 this year – held it's first-ever Asia Ministerial, bringing together subnational governments to strengthen climate leadership, collaboration, and action.
Members, including Under2 Coalition Asia-Pacific co-chair Governor Kim Tae-heum of Chungcheongnam-do, discussed scaling renewables, unlocking climate finance through green bonds and carbon markets, and amplifying subnational voices globally.
, ,Behind closed doors, senior leaders across business and government tackled complex issues of how to keep driving real-world action. How can we shift to 24/7 carbon free energy in Asia? What role can AI take in companies’ decarbonisation efforts?
Back on the main stage, Spencer Low, Head of Regional Sustainability, APAC, Google, centred communities: “To be resilient, the measures need to be hyper local. You need to look at local conditions. What's happening on the ground? You need more computational power to get data at the level. Google is working with national authorities to provide information to help communities become more resilient."
, ,Solutions are being sought – and found – across Asia. But challenges remain.
In an agenda-setting keynote, Low Xin Wie, Assistant Chief Executive, Singapore Energy Market Authority, drove home the need to take steps towards a fully realised ASEAN grid: “Southeast Asia has immense renewable potential, but only a small portion is tapped. Three key words to highlight the decarbonisation of Southeast Asia: connectivity, capital, and collaboration.”
His address made the frontpage of the Straits Times.
Divya Sharma, Executive Director, India, Climate Group and Kimiko Hirata, Executive Director of Climate Integrate
But where’s the necessary new funding going to come from?
In the final session of the day, experts in private, philanthropic, and governmental finance discussed how climate investment may be secured. Michael Wen, Executive Vice President, Cathay Financial Holdings set the tone when he stressed the role of sustainability as “crucial, both to help society improve, and for industry and manufacturing, bringing costs down".
“All stakeholders can work together to gradually achieve the mission,” he said.
Watch sessions on demand , ,What lingered as the day drew to a close, delegates frantically exchanged business cards, and conversations spilled into the hotel lobby, was an unmistakable sense of optimism.
As Steve Howard, Vice Chairman, Sustainability, Temasek put it in conversation with Helen Clarkson on Asia’s priorities and the road ahead:
“This is a century which is built for sustainability.”
The Climate Group Asia Action Summit took place in Singapore on 8 May 2025. You can watch sessions on-demand here.