Fourth session of the Masterclass in Transition Planning held on 6 June 2023

Sean D. Tseng was invited as guest speaker for the fourth session of the Masterclass in Transition Planning organised by the UK’s Transition Plan Taskforce and the Oxford Sustainable Finance Group.

During the session, Sean provided an overview of the picture of climate transition plans in Asia. In doing so, he identified three critical levers for the net zero transition to take place in Asia – corporate sustainability, climate finance, and the decarbonisation of high-emitting assets. Transition plans cut across all these three levers, providing the road map for how these levers are put into action, while ensuring pitfalls such as greenwashing are avoided.

While no Asian jurisdiction has made transition plans mandatory, there are signs for their regulatory push. The Monetary Authority of Singapore, for example, has demonstrated leadership in this area by stating that credible transition plans are one of four key strategic outcomes of its recently announced Finance for Net Zero Action Plan. The Network for Greening the Financial System also released a report taking stock of the potential role supervisors play in assessing and developing sound and credible transition plans by financial institutions. These lay the groundwork for what may be formal guidance issued on transition plans in Singapore and the region.

Sean was also on hand to answer questions on the broader decarbonisation journey of Asia, the role of carbon abatement technologies, and whether the goals of the Paris Agreement continue to be achievable.”