Making a low-carbon economy profitable for all: incentive for the trasition

The need to curb the Climate Change it is one of the main priorities for the Governments and for the private sector. Many experts are arguing for a low carbon economy to solve the problem but, especially inside the private sector, there are doubts about whether a transition to a low carbon economy can be carried out without destabilizing the financial sector.

In this context, on 17th June 2016, the EU organized in Singapore a conference entitled “Making a low-carbon economy profitable for all: incentive for transition”, with the aim to highlight the profitability for business and the role that the financial sector can play in this scenario.

Hosted by Société Générale, 95 people attended the event and the audience was primarily from the finance sector, highlighting the participation and intervention of some of the outstanding experts in this area of expertise, such as Dr Michael Pulch (European Union Ambassador to Singapore), Pascal Lambert (Head of Southeast Asia, Société Générale), Teymoor Nabili (Journalist & Presenter), Yeo Lian Sim (Special Adviser to Singapore Exchange), Doug McKay (Vice President Asia Government Relations, Shell), Pierre Ducret (Special Advisor for climate change & COP21, Caisse des Dépôts Group), James Cameron (Head of Infrastructure, Energy and Export Finance Asia Pacific, HSBC) and Michael Brown (Investment Director, Renewable Energy Asia Fund managed by Berkeley Energy).

Even before the historic Paris Agreement was inked in December 2015, global momentum for green investments has been accelerated, both in financial markets as well as political and business circles. The transition to a low-carbon economy is becoming reality, and to make it works, the private and public sectors need to support each other.

One of the main points of the conference was the debate of the private sector´s role and the EU as the key proponent of the transition to a low carbon economy. On the other hand there were active exchange of views, between the EU and Singapore business, academic and media communities, on the positive effects of the transition to a low carbon economy. The following themes were noted as most interesting for Singapore – in the order below:

  • Maritime transport
  • Smart cities & Green Buildings
  • Land transport – cars. greatest potential for renewables: will grow from 3-11% by 203G
  • Forest Fires and Peatlands Restoration – Singapore haze in 2015 = wake-up call/mind shift
  • Sustainable Finance (SSEA)
  • Smart Grids and Energy Storage (SSEA)

The participants have concluded that only face-to-face exchange can lead to solid interactions and partnerships and had identified new opportunities, debated about the activities undertaken to-date and means to improve and communicate success stories.

Published On: June 17, 2016|