Good morning, everyone. It’s good to see you all here again. I’ve been moderating this sustainable business summit for four years already, and it’s a very different mood compared with the previous years. I think just recently we have seen so many global headlines write about green and sustainable and what’s the future, especially in the West. We have the Trump administration and pulling out of the Paris Agreement for the US. We have Europe wanting to cut climate spending to shore up defense. And even in Asia, people are quite preoccupied with that threat of tariffs. There’s this major overhang. So with that in mind, today’s topic is still quite optimistic about how we want to win the sustainable finance race. And we want to look at how even if in some parts of the world it’s faltering a bit. What’s the impact on Asia and where are the opportunities for Asia? We can step up and fill that vacuum and get. So today I’m really excited to have this brilliant panel of GEP, Dennis and Nicole with me. And before we head into the Asia specifics, I want to ask Jeep actually, how have tariffs and interest rate expectations affecting the attractiveness of ESG investments and the area of sustainable finance? So thanks a lot for the question and pleasure to be here with everyone. I think that when we’re looking at the topic, given that sustainable finance, I find it helpful to move back and look at numbers, not headlines. And if we look at what we’re seeing in terms of capital flow to client interest and on the ground investment, we’re still seeing a really robust environment for sustainable investing in a lot of different jurisdictions. And interestingly, in the US, that’s being driven by the economics of sustainable finance. What we saw was in 2024 we saw record investments in energy transition, renewable energy and other sorts of areas such as transportation infrastructure. And for me, what’s fascinating is that the US was actually spending more than Germany, France and Italy combined in that space. And based on some BNF data, if we remove all of the subsidies that are associated with this space and just look at what this means for the outlook from here until 2035, the change in policy only takes 10% off that. So it shows that what’s driving investment in this space is not subsidies. It’s the underlying economics in a lot of circumstances. For us, I think that’s really interesting looking to Asia as well, because we have China as the clear leader in terms of the amount of dollars being put into them, investment in this space. And they’re more than two times what we see in any other market. So it both in that sense, but also in terms of percentage of GDP. And this was mentioned in the prior panel, but the policy commitment and alignment of sustainable finance with national objectives, infrastructure development, decarbonisation, improving livelihoods is really part of the core political and policy environment within the region. So from my perspective, you can you can call me very, very optimistic. But I think that from those fundamental perspective, it still remains relatively robust and sustainable assets actually reached an all time high in terms of assets under management at the end of June at least have doubled over the last ten years. So very rosy picture, I’m aware. But from my perspective, I think that looking at the numbers, looking at the flow of dollars, you actually get a slightly different story than if you’re looking at other areas. Right. Yeah. Interesting. So look beyond the headlines to follow the flow of money. And I think right here on what keeps it about Asia and China and these big investments in green. So we do have a really interesting chart actually on China’s green debt issuance. So among all the can we have to chat up among all the top countries that are issuing green bonds and the ones China has the largest issuance. And what’s really interesting to me when I look at this is 2025, you can already see that it rivals 2024 and the previous years and we are only halfway through the year. So it’s really going to be a record beating year compared with previous. And that’s a point of optimism right there. So on the expiring debt, let’s go a little bit to Nicole, who specializes in fixed income. And you’re in debt. What are you seeing from issuers and investors perspective for this region? I think I’d like to echo what Gabe sit around, sort of looking beyond the headlines a little bit. But I think we have to bear in mind that ESG has come a long way since, you know, a wave of really strong momentum, followed by, as we all probably are aware, a strong push for anti greenwashing as well. So it’s quite unsurprising that we have landed to where we are today, where investors are focused on perhaps more near-term risks. Right. But I guess this doesn’t mean, at least from our perspective, managing looking at the fixed income markets, it doesn’t mean that, you know, numbers have fallen off a cliff. If you look at it, label debt or even sort of ESG, a um, these are broadly in line with broader market trends. Right. But I think perhaps reframe a little bit what labels don’t necessarily tell you and I know labels are important, but they don’t tell you much about quality. So from my experience and we manage a range of sustainable strategies, we can see that investors are becoming more nuanced and becoming more focused. They’re asking more sophisticated questions and following that, you know, capital allocation to what areas where they can create real world outcomes. I think similarly for the issues that we look at as well, they’re well on their way embarking on the energy transition, again, advocating sort of investments to where it makes the most sense for an insurer to deliver long term value and resilience. So again, it’s less about high level commitments and strategy. I think we’ve moved past that a little bit as an industry and more about implementation, one that’s rooted in materiality credibility. So again, beyond the noise, what matters most for us is sort of the space becoming more nuance, more focus, less about labels, more about substance. Right. And that sounds good. So I want to go a bit now to Dennis, who looks at disclosures and activities of corporates in this region. Quite a fair bit. So, Dennis, what are we seeing? I mean, earlier on we talked a little bit about greenwashing, right? And how even if you are doing some corporate climate action, you might want to stay quiet because you want to avoid political attacks or you want to avoid people labelling you as a greenwashing. So far, Denis So what are you seeing in corporates in this region and activity and are they still doing it and doing it while keeping quiet? What’s the sense that you get on the ground? Well, we’re in the middle of the 2025 disclosure season to CDP right now, so it’s kind of also midyear. I can only give you the sentiment that we’re feeling on the inside of CDP, which is that it it seems there is more interest than ever. And thus, although here in business and finance and politics, past performance does not predict the future, I can really only talk about that trajectory from from the ever since the Paris Agreement and that increasing trajectory in companies interest, corporate interest, financial interest. And you know, we’ve gone from 8000 companies disclosing to 14000 to 25000 to two thirds of the listed market capitalization of the world disclosing data to CDP. And if I’m saying that by the middle of the year right now, then we are seeing greater uptake than ever, then it looks like the mere politics are mere greenwashing and mere words are not tamping down the recognise and that that environmental risk is financial risk, that this is a business necessity now to to the world economy and data is an absolute necessity to make the right decisions. And it is undeniable that Asia has now to CDP over half of the the world’s disclosure and numbers of of companies taking action in Asia. MM Right. So no, I have a question for the audience. Actually, we have a poll on screen and it will come up in a bit and you can scan the QR code and give you answer to this question. So what factor will most determine Asia’s ability to lead in sustainable finance globally? And it’s a question that I do want to post in a slightly different form to our panel as well. Yes. So with us and parts of Europe facing political pushback against ESG, is Asia going to fill that leadership vacuum and give Asia the edge to do so? Dennis, do you want to start us off? Okay. Are we going to fill the leadership vacuum? Well, the Asia’s not waiting to fill a leadership gap. A vacuum. Asia needs to step up out of necessity for societies. And this isn’t about ideology. It’s about exposure, urgency and alignment for businesses. This is about survival and competitiveness. And Asia is moving ahead already for policymakers already suggesting that that was it. 13, 13 different jurisdictions are taking on ISB. 70% of regulators are about to mandate environmental disclosure policies at Singapore, Japan, the regulators here are doing stress testing. So Asia’s Asia’s not sitting around waiting for four for politics to dictate what’s important. Here it is. It has already been a leader and is continuing to be so. Mm. How about Nikko? Where do you think Asia’s advantage lies? And in a minute, we will flesh the audience response to see who thinks they agree. I think, you know, similar sentiments that Dennis made and Mr. early on made. Right. Asia will take on leadership, but not in the same way the West has, I think for many reasons, but crucially, because of the wide ranging economic demographic, developmental needs that are in the region right now, we bring a kind of leadership that is one that’s rooted in solving for growth, resilience and innovation all at once simultaneously. So what is clear is that there is a need for sustainable development in the region, whether it’s, you know, expanding clean energy, upgrading water, transport systems, majority of the world’s infrastructure needs through to 2040. In Asia, I think the numbers are on 60%. So the demand is real and the demand is structural supply chain. Know if you think about with the what supply chain exists. Asia’s role in global supply chain allows it to influence the transition in ways that many other regions cannot. Right. Simply because of how the shape of the supply chain is life. So not just in terms of emissions, but in terms of innovation, labor practices and importantly for long term resilience. So there is an opportunity to embed sustainability from the get go within Asia and not just retrofit it later. So I think all this to say, you know, Asia might not take the loudest position on sustainability, but there is room or there is definitely a strong case for us for Asia to shape the agenda in ways that are locally relevant and globally important. Mm. And your thoughts on this game? I mean, just to quickly add a few points, I would completely agree with what was just said from from my perspective, the things I find very innovative and exciting about Asia Pacific is one is, as was highlighted earlier by Mr. Han, the the context of the local markets and the different dynamics means that there’s no one size fits all solution that can be deployed everywhere. And so for me, what’s that has resulted in is a huge amount of innovation in a lot of different markets to solve the problems that they’re facing. If we look at what this means, Asia Pacific is now the leading region for transition instruments being issued globally. So we’re already leading on facilitating, transitioning and financing transition. If we look at within mainland China, we also have leadership in terms of battery technology, in terms of solar, in terms of EVs. All of these sorts of areas are building up to solve the challenges that are faced in different markets. And so from my perspective, I think that the policy side in terms of the disclosures, the frameworks that Dennis was highlighting, a critical enabler of providing the ingredients towards that solution, but then also the on the ground innovation in a lot of disparate markets, solving the local problems that exist, focusing on transition, balancing that with economic livelihoods and economic growth is a very unique problem to the region that we’re trying to solve for, which provides an opportunity for leadership in a different sense than in terms of what you might see coming from other regions. Mm hmm. And let’s put up the results of the poll from the audience. It seems that regional capital inflows, most of you think that that’s the factor that will most determine Asia’s ability to lead. And some of our panelists mentioned that in terms of the need for infrastructure, clean water, energy transition and so on, and how that is going to affect capital and investment demand. So with the need for infrastructure actually being one of the driving factors for Asia, ESG, where do you find opportunities then is where are some of the opportunities that investors, our corporates can look to when it comes to the theme of adaptation? Well. I know these guys are wanting to talk about transition. I want to make sure that we don’t forget about adaptation and especially Asia being being one of those locations that needs adaptation finance the most. And when you ask about opportunities, then there’s a there’s a flip side of what CDP gathers from as many corporates and as many finance folks as, you know, players as we do. We also collect information from over a thousand cities and states and regions, which has an awesome acronym of C Star. And 12% of the world’s population lives in a place that discloses information to CDP all in one place, and many of them submit them the project financing needs and adaptation needs. So there’s a couple of opportunities that I would highlight. In the Philippines, there is a city called Deep Long City. In Thailand, there’s a city called Sak Long, not corn city. And both of these have water management adaptation projects needed to to get real time flood warning for water, impounding many hydro dam power generation and all at the same time being able to irrigate rice paddies. You’re looking for opportunities. There’s there’s hundreds of of adaptation needs around Asia, more than more than transition as well, which is also tremendously important. Yeah, that sounds good. There’s so many opportunities in terms of adaptation infrastructure. But the key question, I think for many investors and corporates is d good in terms of returns. So give how are we seeing that in terms of adaptation projects, their returns and market rate? Are they above. Tell us more. So I think when thinking about investment in adaptation, it’s been slower to see the momentum that we’ve seen behind green finance and also climate mitigation, in part because it’s been seen as giving up on achieving the mitigation side. And I think that that view is now changing. And if we look at mitigation finance, it’s absolutely critical in Asia as well, especially given that we only have typically 10 to 20% of losses are insured versus 50 to 60% in developed markets in other parts of the world. So that creates a huge economic need for adaptation finance in terms of the individual projects. There’s some really interesting opportunities within the value chain of adaptation finance. So who would aid providers into some of these infrastructure projects into using nature based solutions for mitigation and adaptation combined in terms of protecting from sea surge and other sorts of components? So there are ways to build in revenue streams associated with some adaptation initiatives, in particular for heating and cooling and other sorts of areas and green buildings and other infrastructure. And so in terms of a direct answer to what does that mean for investors, there are huge, exciting opportunities within that space. Some of their most obvious and relevant ones for Asia are around green buildings and retrofitting and increasing the efficiency of buildings. You get a massive saving on energy making, typically an increase the rental yield and you can get commercial right returns for those investments. So it’s looking at how you can think of this as part of a business strategy in terms of resilience, of future cash flow, but also maximizing near-term returns. So from my perspective, within the end of adaptation, but also the value chain, there’s a lot of exciting opportunities, right? So it’s fidelity already putting money to watch those investments. You mentioned the green buildings in this part of the world. Well, we do have two dedicated impact funds that are doing building refurbishment when we don’t have that capability in Asia yet, But we are invested across the entire value chain of resilient CapEx, green CapEx. And so to flow into adaptation assets. Mm hmm. Right. And I’ll move on now to Nicole. And we are seeing in terms of these issuers in their region, are they investing in adaptation and disclosing it? And when you are looking in the bonds, does it help that they are disclosing this? Um, I think very short answer to whether they are disclosing advances no and not how to why that is the case in of it. I think in the Asian credit market where I mostly spend my time and we see quite a natural alignment between the issue of base and, you know, adaptation and resilience, right? So within our university, for those of you who are familiar, we have many coal infrastructure or infrastructure adjacent players. These are your state linked utilities, your conglomerates that are. Quite central and core to the physical and economic backbone of the region. So I think instead of thinking about adaptation, perhaps in the same way as mitigation investing, where you have a thematic fund that we were thinking about, the release within our universe is that it is a systemic issue, it is a risk overlay if you want to think about it that way, because I think if you take a longer term view, one where physical climate risks become more pronounced. Against the backdrop of the development needs that we’ve already discussed, you can quite easily see where you can either mitigate downside risk or at the very best scenarios, find opportunities within the companies, within the issuers, projects that are able to deliver the long term investor value with resilience, with adaptation in mind, not just for the issuer or the entity itself, but also for the broader society it operates in. So for us, I think that’s the view we’re taking. You know, as with any sustainable finance problem, the challenge is accessing financial material information that can then guide capital allocation. Right? So this is what, you know, I personally am spending a lot of time on in trying to understand how the market not just us, not just issuers, but collectively, how do we speak the language of resilience and adaptation and how do I encourage or guide or pick issuers that can then articulate how much OpEx CapEx is being directed towards resilience and adaptation spend? I think these are the few pieces that we sort of need to solve for. But but it is inherent within at least the space that we look at. And for us, solving for that challenge is critical for fiduciary duty as well, right? So can we say that if a company in Asia as a corporate, will you invest in these adaptation projects to help your company mitigate climate risk that’s going to help you when it comes to issuing your green bonds? It is credit what credit worthiness? Right. If you’re able to withstand risks that will manifest not tomorrow, but in five or ten years time. And if again, you’re issuing a bond through to 20, 35 or 2040, those things are key to your credit worthiness and your ability to repay your debt. So I would have put a price to it for now, but I think it is part and parcel of the way. Increasingly investors are looking at investing. MM. Right. Okay. So let’s turn now to the last segment, which I want to talk a little bit about disclosure since Nicole brought it up, how can disclosure benefit firms in this region? I think a lot of folks are still new in the early stages of sustainability reporting, and it is pretty confusing, especially when different countries in the region I mean, Asia is pretty diverse and not homogeneous at all. So Dennis, Tony, tell us a little bit more about how disclosure is going in this region and what our regulators are doing and whether more can be done or maybe they should do less, Maybe they should do what maybe the regulators should do less, maybe. Oh, actually, you know, I’ve learned I’ve learned a lot in my in my time here. And I think the regulators need to do more and more coordinated to to get rid of that fragmentation. Asia as a whole is not homogenous again or this out very much the thorough North Asia, it turns out Japan, Korea, Taiwan, really quite advanced on disclosure. China’s our biggest market for disclosure. India’s rapidly growing up in Southeast Asia is making leaps and bounds from growth but from a low baseline. But you want to know if I had to speak to the audience. One of the benefits of disclosure, it’s not just a compliance burden. Please not think of it as a compliance burden. Internally in CDP, we think we talk about the main drivers and main benefits of of environmental disclosure and we break it down to A, B, C, a standardized data force to measure it will give you access to capital, B will give you business intelligence. You’ll see risks and you’ll see opportunities. The attractiveness of ESG is that through disclosure to CDP, we saw $16 trillion of opportunities disclosed when everybody was disclosing on a common platform and C would be compliance because as we said before, then 13 different jurisdictions are bringing ISB into play soon. If you want to get ready for that, then a standardised way of disclosing would would help you along that way. A, B, c. Now companies can help by in asking their supply chains, using the power of your purchasing power to ask your supply chains and asking thousands of companies which would be investable as well to disclose. But accessibility is also key to unlock really disclosure, then making it appropriate to SMEs is critical as well. And. Send me questionnaire so that we are also servicing that level of company, especially in your supply chains. Mm. Right. Thank you so much to our panel today. That was really great discussion. I learned a lot about where the pockets of opportunity still are and how Asia has advantages in some areas for the sustainable finance race globally. So thank you so much again for your time. Thanks, Cheryl. Thank you.