China stokes Asia-Pacific demand for sustainable finance despite rising interest rates, driven by Beijing’s carbon ambitions

Investing in firms and industries to help fund their transition to a low-carbon future is set to become a major theme in 2024, as demand for sustainable finance products in China and the Asia-Pacific region will remain robust despite elevated interest rates, fund managers and analysts said.

Asia-Pacific, a region highly exposed to costly climate change-related events, needs to invest US$71 trillion to achieve net-zero emissions by mid-century, to answer the United Nations’ recent call for faster decarbonisation, according to a study released in April by New York-based international relations think tank Asia Society Policy Institute.