SEC advances bankable climate adaptation across ASEAN

MANILA — The Securities and Exchange Commission highlighted the Philippines’ role in advancing climate adaptation finance across Southeast Asia during the Unlocking Capital for Sustainability 2026 — Philippines forum.

Eco-Business organized the regional sustainable finance forum in partnership with the ASEAN Business Advisory Council Philippines and the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative.

The event convened policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, businesses and sustainability leaders to discuss practical strategies for mobilizing capital for climate resilience across the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

SEC Commissioner Javey Paul D. Francisco joined the opening plenary, “Aligning Finance: Making Mitigation and Adaptation Work for Regional Economies.”

Other panelists were Marla Garin-Alvarez, first vice president and head of BDO Unibank’s Sustainability Office, and Dennis Wan, CDP’s Asia-Pacific market director. Jessica Cheam, founder and CEO of Eco-Business, moderated the discussion.

The plenary examined how ASEAN could make climate mitigation and adaptation projects more bankable by aligning sustainable finance taxonomies, disclosure standards and governance frameworks while addressing local market conditions.

Francisco said ASEAN’s next challenge was not an absence of climate ambition or capital but the need to translate its climate goals into measurable, credible and investable projects that could attract financing at scale.

He said regulators played a catalytic role by creating conditions that allowed private investors to confidently identify, compare and finance sustainable investments.

Francisco also highlighted the next phase of the mitigation co-benefit and Adaptation for Resilience, or mARs, Guide under the ASEAN Taxonomy. The initiative is expected to advance in 2026 under the Philippines’ chairmanship of the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum.

The guide is intended to make climate adaptation projects more investable by shifting the focus from simply labeling projects as “adaptation” to demonstrating how investments reduce specific climate risks through measurable resilience outcomes.

The framework is also expected to give investors more consistent, credible and verifiable information when assessing climate resilience projects across ASEAN.

The initiative builds on a November 2025 white paper that established principles and methodological approaches for identifying and evaluating adaptation-related activities.

The mARs initiative supports the ASEAN Taxonomy, the region’s common classification framework for sustainable economic activities. Version 4 of the taxonomy was released in June 2026, completing its coverage of six focus sectors and three enabling sectors.

Francisco also discussed the SEC’s efforts to balance regional comparability with local climate conditions through sustainability disclosures aligned with the International Sustainability Standards Board and the ASEAN Taxonomy.

He said common reporting standards, combined with locally grounded climate risk assessments, allowed investors to compare sustainable investments across ASEAN without creating a fragmented regulatory landscape.

Francisco said the SEC was exploring mechanisms to help local governments and smaller project developers participate more effectively in capital markets.

He also stressed the need to build investment-ready project pipelines, strengthen project preparation and develop financing structures that could bring climate resilience projects to an institutional scale while maintaining investor protection.

The Philippine forum, held Aug. 19 in Manila, formed part of the ninth edition of Eco-Business’ flagship sustainable finance series in the Asia-Pacific region.

The series brings together senior decision-makers from finance, government, business and civil society to develop practical solutions for mobilizing capital and accelerating the region’s transition to a more resilient and sustainable future.