Accelerating Impact Investments for Climate and Nature in Asia 2025

1.2 Impact investing key to accelerating change The climate crisis, combined with Asia’s status as home to some of the world’s largest carbon- emitting countries, presents both a critical challenge and a unique opportunity for innovation. This dynamic is driving significant interest in impact investing, which has the potential to attract substantial capital for climate action in the region from both local and global investors. Impact investments are particularly well-suited to address these challenges, as they are specifically designed to “generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial return”,16 as illustrated in case study 2. Other sustainable investment strategies, such as socially responsible investing (SRI) – which screens investments based on ethical criteria – and environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing – which evaluates companies on their sustainability practices alongside traditional financial metrics – play important roles in promoting corporate responsibility and risk management, yet impact investing stands out. Its defining feature is explicit focus on generating measurable social or environmental outcomes. By targeting innovative solutions to pressing global issues and offering a blend of financial returns and positive social and environmental outcomes, impact investing provides a more direct and actionable pathway for investors seeking to drive the transition to a sustainable future. To boost investment in high-quality nature-based solutions (NbS) that deliver triple-benefit outcomes for climate, biodiversity and local communities in South-East Asia, nine international non-profit organizations focused on climate and conservation have formed the SCeNe Coalition, hosted by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in Singapore. The coalition’s mission is to support frontline organizations (FOs) – local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community groups, cooperatives and Indigenous Peoples – in developing NbS projects that channel carbon and climate finance into equitable climate mitigation and adaptation efforts, biodiversity conservation and the enhancement of local socioeconomic well-being. By doing so, the coalition aims to accelerate and scale the demand for and supply of high-integrity NbS in South-East Asia. It seeks to demonstrate what high-quality NbS for climate looks like in the region while ensuring that these projects deliver on their triple benefits. To achieve this, the coalition is focused on providing data, highlighting best practices in developing high-quality NbS projects, building the capacity of local FOs to implement these projects and facilitating access to financing. The coalition has identified three bodies of work to support the delivery of its objectives: NbS tool is a climate tech platform designed to assist FOs in developing NbS projects. This includes features for data analysis, pre-feasibility assessments, project documentation and showcasing projects to potential investors. NbS portfolio is a guidance document on developing high-quality NbS projects and a collection of NbS projects that represent best practices for and examples of high-quality NbS projects. This knowledge product provides case studies to guide FOs and strengthen their capacity to implement these projects, and enhances access to financing by informing the market, including investors and buyers. NbS incubator is a programme that provides bespoke support to FOs in addressing gaps in financing, data, technology, knowledge and capacity for NbS implementation. The incubator enables FOs to build a pipeline of high-quality, triple-benefit NbS projects by providing tailored support, including funding, technical expertise, social safeguards, benefits sharing and stakeholder engagement facilitation. These efforts aim to catalyse the development and scaling of NbS that are not only effective in addressing climate and biodiversity challenges but also bring tangible benefits to local communities in South-East Asia. Impact investing provides a more direct and actionable pathway for investors seeking to drive the transition to a sustainable future. CASE STUDY 2 Southeast Asia Climate and Nature-Based Solutions (SCeNe) Coalition Accelerating Impact Investments for Climate and Nature in Asia 8