A range of financial instruments needed to pay annual $200 Billion nature restoration cost in Southeast Asia – report

Well structured capital market instruments – including sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) - can play a role in scaling up investments in nature restoration projects in Southeast Asia, a new report from Imperial College Business School finds.

Recent exeme temperatures in the region demonstrate the ongoing climate and nature crisis in Southeast Asia. The report is published at a time of both ecological and economic uncertainty for the region, as climate change continues to impact disproportionately Asian economies – many of which are underpinned by nature.

Researchers at Imperial’s Centre for Climate Finance & Investment (CCFI) have identified a number of financial instruments available to support the funding of much-needed nature restoration projects in the region – notably including SLBs.

The report, which is authored by Dr Pernille Holtedahl, a Research Fellow at the CCFI, and supported by the Singapore Green Finance Centre (SGFC), explores among other things the use of SLBs in funding restoration projects in Malaysia. The annual cost of nature restoration across Southeast Asiacould total $200 billion, demanding greater private sector involvement and, as such, these capital market instruments are one way to entice fixed income investors to support the Malaysian government’s biodiversity ambitions.

SLBs, of which some US$73 billion were issued globally in 2022, tie organisations to certain sustainability commitments via penalties that are incurred for targets missed. The researchers propose the use of credible and verifiable key performance indicators (KPIs) in administering these SLBs.

Alongside biodiversity-linked SLBs, the paper, Nature Investment as a Response to the Climate Crisis: Opportunities in Southeast Asia, stresses that a broad range of financial instruments are available for use and offer viable avenues for generating private sector investment in the region as it looks to fund crucial nature action projects.

As nature investments offer both a logical and powerful response to the climate and nature emergency in Southeast Asia, the report stresses the breadth of choice available via financial and nature market instruments.

The report also highlights a collection of mangrove restoration projects which offer asset owners, insurance companies and impact investors cost savings or financial returns. It notes, however, that while these projects represent a potentially powerful nature investment opportunity in Southeast Asia, scalable business models remain in their infancy.

Finally, Dr Holtedahl advises against overreliance on carbon credits to provide the investment case for nature, instead encouraging long-term incorporation of nature benefits into broader corporate investment decisions.

Reflecting on the findings of the report, Dr Holtedahl, says:

“The opportunities available to encourage private investors to consider nature investments when making financial decisions are manifold. Climate change is already impacting Southeast Asian economies and together with the risk of ecosystem collapse provide a strong motivation for investing in nature. This paper has framed the case for nature investing from both a public and private perspective. We have highlighted that investors stand to benefit greatly from nature investments – whether it be for resilience, portfolio diversification, or cost reduction efforts. We hope that this report offers some insight into the potential entry points for investors in the region

You can download the report via this link: https://imprl.biz/NatureInvestments

If you would to like to speak to the researchers, please contact Peter Remon at BlueSky Education – peter@bluesky-pr.com +44 (0) 77 235 228 30.