The World Economic Forum last week launched a digital platform outlining 100 policy measures, finance mechanisms and de-risking solutions in 47 emerging and developing economies.

Known as the Playbook of Solutions, it was assembled by the Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South, which was launched at the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos in January.

Emerging markets and developing economies will represent 90 percent of the growth in global energy demand by 2035, according to a report by the International Energy Agency and International Finance Corp.

Yet these countries, which are home to a majority of the world’s population, account for less than a fifth of global clean energy investments, the report said.

In order to speed up the transition to clean energy and triple renewables by 2030, the annual average investment in renewable energy will need to reach at least $1.7 trillion by 2030, it said.

With this in mind, the Playbook of Solutions aims to guide governments, finance institutions and energy companies regarding their approach toward energy transition project financing in emerging markets.

It also highlights the need for a multipronged approach of policy action, de-risking tools and innovative financing mechanisms to unlock the $1.7 trillion needed in the Global South.

“The MENA region has shown remarkable advancements in its energy transition over the past decade,” Roberto Bocca, head of the WEF’s Center for Energy and Materials, told Arab News.

He said that according to the WEF’s latest Energy Transition Index, the region’s energy transition scores had increased by 7 percent overall, “with a substantial 22 percent rise in transition readiness.”

This progress “reflects the importance and efficacy of implementing a comprehensive blend of policies and strategies to unlock clean energy investment” and the new playbook “showcases various tools and measures for achieving this,” he said.

The playbook also highlights the success stories of four countries: Egypt, India, Chile and Brazil and how they raised billions in clean energy capital through a combination of strategies including policy measures and finance platforms.

“Country-led commitment reforms and platforms are critical to align sustainable development efforts in a way that prioritizes national objectives and accelerates progress toward a just, green transition,” said Rania Al-Mashat, minister of planning, economic development and international cooperation of Egypt and co-chair of the Network to Mobilize Investment for Clean Energy in the Global South.

The playbook “provides an effective way to exchange best practices and lessons learned between peer countries, thus unlocking just financing solutions that accelerate progress toward a just energy transition,” she said.

Source: ARAB

The Asean bloc remains a "stabilising force" in Southeast Asia despite making only incremental progress on key issues, including Myanmar's civil war and the drafting of a code of conduct for the South China Sea, its secretary general said.

Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations are meeting in Laos this week with heads of government and top diplomats from partners including the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

The bloc, home to over 685 million people and representing around 8% of global exports, has been unable to push resolutions on difficult regional issues, which analysts say risks undermining Asean's central role in its backyard.

But Asean's Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn insisted the grouping has constantly pushed for dialogue and diplomacy, ensuring that negotiations move ahead.

"Asean has been, I would say, the stabilising force," the former Cambodian diplomat told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday.

"We take the issues head on," he said. "People always put too much emphasis on problems, but the way I look at Asean, we have come a long way."

For instance, Kao Kim Hourn said, with member economies increasingly integrated and trade agreements in place with many external partners, Asean attracted US$230 billion (RM988.2 billion) in new investments in 2023.

"The fact that there is confidence and trust in Asean, that's why the US$230 billion investment moves into Asean," he said. "The future is here."

Myanmar is ‘complex’

Asean has made little progress with its "Five Point Consensus" peace plan for Myanmar, unveiled months after a 2021 coup, but Kao Kim Hourn said the leaders of Asean remain adamant that the grouping will stay engaged with Myanmar.

"We need time and patience," the secretary general said. "Myanmar is such a complicated, a complex issue... We should not expect a quick fix."

Conflict has raged in Myanmar, with an expanding armed resistance against the military government. Some 18.6 million people, more than a third of the population, are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance.

Despite losing control of wide swathes of territory and being pinned down across multiple front lines, the junta appears to be pushing ahead with plans for an election next year, which has been widely derided as a sham.

Asean will continue to push for "inclusive political dialogue" among all conflicting parties in Myanmar, said Kao Kim Hourn, even as leaders look to scale up humanitarian assistance.

Thailand has offered to host an "informal consultation" on Myanmar in December among Asean members, some of whom are divided between those who want the junta to do more and those calling for more talks among warring parties.

South China Sea dispute

Another major concern for Asean is tension in the South China Sea, where confrontations in disputed waters continue between China and the Philippines, and more recently Vietnam.

The situation has brought renewed attention to Asean's protracted negotiations with Beijing towards creating a code of conduct for the vital waterway, a process in motion since 2017.

"Until now, there have been ongoing negotiations," Kao Kim Hourn said, "It's not static, it's not standstill, but things are still moving ahead."

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for US$3 trillion of trade annually, and has deployed an armada of coast guard deep into areas claimed by Asean members Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

While some Asean countries hope the code can be concluded in a few years, prospects for a legally binding text remain distant, analysts say.

"The good part is that as long as there are still dialogue and diplomacy on the table and moving forward, I think there's a lot of hope there," Kao Kim Hourn said.

Source: The edge markets

In recent years, sustainability has increasingly had to cope with toughened market conditions, policy, and geopolitics. Meanwhile, despite technological advancements, many clean-energy options remain costly to deploy. All these factors are affecting how companies execute transition plans, requiring them to think more critically about their sustainability strategies.

That is reflected in this year’s New York Climate Week, where participants went beyond emphasising ambition and achievements to discussing what challenges we face to accelerate the energy transition and what innovative solutions we can embark on.

Get used to the business as ‘unusual’

An insightful aspect to many New York Climate Week conversations centred on disruptive ways of doing business: committing to sustainability means getting used to the business as ‘unusual’, whether it is exploring the unknown, managing trial and error, or engaging in difficult but constructive conversations with clients. These changes may be costly to invest in and challenging to implement at the beginning. But in the long term, business as ‘unusual’ in sustainability can transform burden into benefits, as evidenced in later analyses.

The road toward sustainability is never linear, complicated by frequent policy and market disruptions. This therefore requires companies to practice sustainability with constantly refreshed minds. Sustainability goes beyond compliance to managing risks, harnessing opportunities, aligning customer demand, and creating value.

What is the golden ratio between carrots and sticks?

Policy is crucial in facilitating the energy transition, as it can support nascent technologies, more properly price dirty economic activities, harmonise industry practices, and create level playing fields. As we have pointed out in many analyses, the US’ energy transition largely relies on incentives (carrots) to scale up the production of clean technologies, whereas the EU relies relatively more on standards and mandates (sticks) to steer demand toward a greener direction.

A topic we heard companies and investors talk about during the climate week is how to effectively enhance the demand for clean energy. On the one hand, if producers cannot secure long-term offtake agreements in large amounts, then it is hard for projects to advance even if the necessary technology, resources, and infrastructure are all available. On the other hand, if regulations and demand-side mandates are unrealistic, then there can be excessive non-compliance that defeats the purpose of regulation. The best ratio might be different across regions, but each jurisdiction needs a combination of carrots and sticks in terms of policy for decarbonization. Overly relying on one and ignoring the other will not yield optimal results.

Refine business strategy through broadened sustainability metrics

Companies have emphasised the importance of pursuing environmental stewardship, which lies beyond adhering to the most used sustainability measurements such as emissions reduction and renewable energy usage. And the notion of stewardship can be highly industry specific. In the food and agriculture sector, stewardship can represent strengthening soil health and improving water availability and quality. Doing this can not only enhance crop output and resiliency, but also prevent land degradation. This does not mean that the emissions metric should be discarded; rather, a wider range of considerations can together lead to a more holistic approach to sustainability that highlights sector materiality.

Some jurisdictions are encouraging this holistic thinking through sustainability disclosure requirements. The EU’s soon-to-be-mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), for example, requires some 50,000 EU companies and at least 10,000 foreign companies to report in phases on sustainability metrics such as water, biodiversity, and circularity. In addition to complying to the law, companies can also benefit from using their own ESG data to refine sustainability strategies. These include improving sustainability strategy through gap analyses and increasing internal business efficiency. Standardized disclosure, coupled with enhanced ESG strategy, can also help companies enhance the access to capital.

Marry sustainability with customer centricity

According to a global study conducted by Bain & Company, around 60% of consumers have become more concerned about climate change in the past two years, with packaging and recyclability emerging as two main major considerations. This means that companies, especially those in the consumer goods and retail sectors, would appeal to sustainability-conscious consumers by closing the loop for the full product life cycle.

Consumers have become more concerned about climate change

Respondent answers to the question of ‘How have your climate change concerns have changed over the past two years?’

Note: Excludes respondents who said they do not believe the climate is changing, n=18,991. Source: Bain Consumer Lab ESG Survey 2024

Meanwhile, however, anecdotal evidence shows that sustainability can move down the priority list if sustainable products are too costly or inconvenient to use. While it is debatable how much more expensive sustainable products can be and who should be bearing that cost increase, sustainability should not derail from being consumer-centric.

In the automotives industry, for example, companies can design electric vehicles (EVs) through leveraging their brands’ traditional selling points, whether it be luxury, coolness, or ease of use. While creating luxury/cool EVs relies on product design, one way to boost the ease of use is to partner with restaurants, shops or office buildings for EV charging. This can help consumers overcome their unwillingness to wait a long time charging EVs and narrow the infrastructure gap that countries like the US are facing.

On top of that, communication is key. Companies would benefit from laying out how their products are sustainable to consumers, as opposed to only having a sustainability label or certificate. Moreover, companies are starting to link sustainability with other benefits consumers care about. For instance, real estate sustainability efforts are being communicated to customers as a means to ensure economic security through increased energy efficiency. Real estate companies are also exploring the ‘S’ aspect of ESG through boosting affordable housing and creating value for local communities. All in all, sustainability is about operating businesses in ways toward consumers’ long-term wellbeing.

Committing to sustainability is committing to the business as unusual. Given the uncertain and ever-evolving nature of climate change, companies would need to take on a comprehensive approach to sustainability in their decision-making processes, which often involves challenging the existing energy system. All these cannot be achieved without collaboration and dedication despite the many challenges ahead.

Japanese restaurant operator Food Innovators Holdings plans to raise $3.1 million through listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) Catalist board.

The proceeds of the initial public offering will go towards introducing new Japanese brands and concepts in Singapore and Malaysia and buying the rights to operate more themed restaurants in Japan and overseas, it noted on Oct 9.

The company also hopes to ride the growing wave of popularity of Japanese culture and food in Singapore and Malaysia, said chief executive Kubota Yasuaki, through an interpreter.

Mr Yasuaki told The Straits Times: “We think that Singapore is the central hub of the Asian economy. Our plan is to operate food and beverage restaurants in Japan and also outside Japan, mainly in Asia. Singapore is a multicultural country, so we think that Singapore is a good place to be listed.”

He added that being listed here will help the company to be more well known in Asia and increase its credibility in Japan, enabling it to raise debt financing from Japanese banks.

The plan is to eventually list on the SGX mainboard in several years, he said.

Food Innovators Holdings is offering 14 million shares – 13 million placement shares and one million for public subscription at 22 cents apiece.

If all shares are fully subscribed, the group will have a market capitalisation of $24.9 million upon listing.

The company runs 10 outlets in Singapore such as tempura rice bowl restaurant Tendon Kohaku, unagi eatery Man Man, Japanese skewers bar Yatagarasu, Hokkaido barbecue joint The Hitsuji Club and beef grill The Ushi Club. These are collaborations with local Japanese restaurant operators.

It also operates four restaurants in Malaysia, a bakery cafe and a central kitchen facility.

It has 12 restaurants in Japan, including a Moomin-themed character eatery in Karuizawa, as well as a restaurant leasing and subleasing business.

The firm noted that it holds the Moomin brand licence in Japan and is looking to buy operating rights of other characters.

“Driven by the widespread popularity of anime culture in Japan, demand for anime-themed restaurants has also been on the rise,” it said in a statement.

“Looking to replicate the success (of Moomin), part of the gross proceeds will be utilised to acquire operating rights to more themed restaurants of popular anime and other characters.”

Mr Yasuaki added: “With decades of deep expertise in Japan’s food service industry, (we are) poised to enter an exciting new phase of growth.

“Our extensive experience has given us a unique understanding of market dynamics, allowing us to strategically leverage favourable trends and scale our Japanese food restaurant network both domestically and internationally.”

The group began in Japan in 2011, but was only incorporated in Singapore in 2019.

Applications for shares close at noon on Oct 14 with the stock expected to begin trading at 9 am on Oct 16. 

Source: Straitstimes