Climate Finance in Southeast Asia: Private Sector, Blended Finance, and COP30 Roadmaps — Insights from Temasek at Straits Times Green Pulse

In this Straits Times Green Pulse episode, Temasek Chief Sustainability Officer Miss Kung Park discusses how climate action is becoming a business opportunity, not just a policy obligation. The conversation highlights Southeast Asia’s funding gap, the role of blended finance, and the private sector’s potential to accelerate decarbonization ahead of COP30. Examples from the region and Singapore’s financing initiatives illustrate how concessional capital, hydrogen and green fuels, and regional grid projects can unlock billions in investments while creating jobs and resilience.

Overview and Context

The Straits Times Green Pulse podcast centers on climate finance, private-sector engagement, and the road to COP30 in Brazil. Miss Kung Park, Chief Sustainability Officer at Temasek, frames climate action as a business imperative shaped by macro headwinds such as geopolitics, inflation, and high capital costs. She emphasizes that while policy signals are crucial, the private sector’s willingness to invest depends on clear economics, credible project pipelines, and risk-sharing mechanisms that de-risk green transitions.

“We need to bring people along as well and enable a just transition.” — Miss Kung Park, Temasek Chief Sustainability Officer

Private Sector Commitment and the New Normal

Park notes that many corporate and investment communities remain committed to climate action because the long‑term business case is compelling. Even with geopolitical volatility and competing priorities, the transition is supported by fundamental tailwinds: cheaper renewable energy, falling battery costs, and growing demand for electrification and energy efficiency. A recurring theme is that the private sector can and should lead, provided policy frameworks and capital structures align to reduce risk and improve returns.

“The physics are very clear around climate change, and the structural tailwinds around the opportunity sets are just plain good business,” she remarks, underscoring the continuity of climate-investment strategies despite noise in other areas.

Regional Opportunities in Southeast Asia

The conversation shifts to Southeast Asia, where Temasek sees a substantial climate-finance gap. Park cites estimates of roughly $1.5 trillion needed by 2030, with only a small fraction currently flowing to the region. She points to regional collaboration as a path to close the gap, highlighting initiatives like the ASEAN power grid as a critical enabler for cross-border renewable energy investments. Ecosperity, a platform that convenes investors and policymakers, has drawn new interest from global asset owners looking to understand the region’s investable opportunities in renewables, grid stability, and energy storage.

She stresses that capital flows respond to policy design, long-horizon risk, and credible deal flows. The region’s macro potential—growing energy demand, urbanization, and a need for industrial decarbonization—drives a compelling investment thesis, even as capital should be deployed with strong governance and climate-transition readiness.

Blended Finance and De‑risking Mechanisms

Park highlights blended finance as a core tool to mobilize private capital for climate projects in Asia. Singapore’s financing initiatives, including the Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FASTP), are designed to mobilize concessional capital in a one-to-one match, with a target to raise up to $5 billion to accelerate green infrastructure and industrial decarbonization. The plan is to use concessional funds to absorb early-stage risk, enabling mainstream investors to participate in large, scalable opportunities with attractive risk-adjusted returns.

She cites infrastructure asset-backed securitization by Clifford Capital and IFC's securitization initiatives as practical pathways to package bankable, diversified opportunities for pension funds and insurers, making it easier for institutions to access cross-border markets and invest in Southeast Asia without shouldering disproportionate risk.

“Capital is like water. It flows to where the least resistance is, where it’s most fluid.” — Miss Kung Park, Temasek Chief Sustainability Officer

Policy Signals and Internal Climate Pricing

Temasek’s approach includes internal carbon pricing to internalize externalities and steer capital toward lower-carbon solutions. Park explains a portfolio-wide carbon budget aligned with net-zero targets by 2050, plus annual emissions reductions, measurement, and transparency. This internal framework helps identify decarbonization opportunities and potential re-rating upside for green investments, especially when combined with targeted capital. She cites examples like Semcore and Topsoe to illustrate how traditional, carbon-intensive assets can transition to cleaner operations through technology, capital, and market mechanisms.

Examples of Transition Finance and Industrious Collaboration

Semcore’s transition away from coal, expanding renewable-energy capacity, and Topsoe’s Power to X projects—producing sustainable aviation fuel and hydrogen—illustrate the practical uses of investment in broader decarbonization. Park stresses that a “just transition” requires collaboration with incumbent sectors that supply market demand for new green technologies, ensuring a broad-based shift rather than a abrupt policy-driven withdrawal that could destabilize employment or supply chains.

“The physics are very clear around climate change, and the structural tailwinds around the opportunity sets are just plain good business.” — Miss Kung Park, Temasek Chief Sustainability Officer

COP30 and the Path to $1.3 Trillion

Looking ahead to COP30, the panel emphasizes that ambition must be matched with implementable projects and credible finance. The pathway to mobilizing $1.3 trillion by 2035 requires a multi-pronged approach: sustained pledges, a robust project pipeline, and acupuncture-style deployment of concessional capital to unlock mainstream investment. Park remains cautiously optimistic, noting that while the private sector alone cannot close the gap, a coordinated public-private-philanthropic effort can mobilize a large portion of the needed capital and accelerate a cleaner, more resilient future.

“There should be a pathway towards getting to that 1.3 trillion,” she asserts, linking policy momentum at COP30 with concrete investment vehicles and regional cooperation, including shared grids, blended finance, and market mechanisms like transition credits. The episode concludes with a call for Asia to strengthen regional partnerships and to demonstrate how private capital and public policy can work in tandem to accelerate climate action while delivering attractive returns for investors.