As the part of the activities of Cleaner Energy Future Initiative for ASEAN (CEFIA), Finance Virtual Event (Live Webinar & Virtual Workshop) will be held virtually on 4 March 2021. The event is organized by Mitsubishi Research Institute on behalf of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) in cooperation with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) as a Secretariat of CEFIA. The event will further deepen CEFIA's activities in the field of finance and provide an opportunity for many stakeholders to participate.

1) Live Webinar:
Fostering mutual understandings of bottleneck and opportunities for accelerating cleaner energy finance.

2) Virtual Workshop:
Visualization of carbon footprint reductions by financial institutions.

Schedule: 4 March 2021, 13:00-15:15 (UTC+7) / 15:00-17:15 (Japan Time)
Venue: Online (Zoom)

Organization: Mitsubishi Research Institute on behalf of Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan (METI) in cooperation with the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE) as a Secretariat of CEFIA.

Target Participants: Private, Public, Academia etc.

Register: Registration is closed!

Participation in the event is free of charge, but registration is compulsory.

The cooperative initiative named Cleaner Energy Future Initiative for ASEAN (CEFIA) was created at the 16th ASEAN+3 Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM+3) in Bangkok in September 2019, as a platform to facilitate collaboration between the public and private sectors for accelerating the deployment of cleaner energy and low carbon technology in the ASEAN region.

Objective of CEFIA is to promote “Business driven dissemination” of cleaner energy and low carbon technologies in parallel with policy development. CEFIA has four functions, namely, “Showcase” to share and communicate good practices, challenges and solutions; “Workspace” to carry out real cooperative projects and activities (e.g., feasibility study, demonstration projects, capacity building); “Databank” to collect information, data and reports; and “Catalyst” to facilitate technology deployment and improve policy and institutional arrangement by connecting people, organizations, ideas and supports including finance.

The 2nd Government-Private Forum on CEFIA was held virtually on 2 February 2021. At the 2nd CEFIA Forum, a session on finance was set up and the following issues were actively discussed.

Expected roles and approaches of government in promoting Cleaner Energy Finance

The government plays an essential role in developing enabling environments for cleaner energy finance. CEFIA can contribute to creating them as a “nexus” among the public sector, private sector, and financial institutions by sharing their needs and voices with the ASEAN member countries.

The current status of ESG investment, and the role of transition finance in the ASEAN

One of the characteristics of ASEAN is its diversity in the economy. The concept of transition finance, which provides finance to broader industries for their transition to a more sustainable society, seems to fit such a region.

The effectiveness of "visualization" of carbon footprint reductions by financial institutions

Measuring carbon footprint in a portfolio is effective in reducing it for financial institutions, but there are many challenges. CEFIA recognizes that the visualization of the one to be approached under CEFIA.

In addition, a direction for future activities based on preparatory activities for the flagship project in the field of finance titled "ASEAN-wide Collaboration on Cleaner Finance" was proposed.

As part of the activities of this finance flagship project, the following two research activities have been carried out to date, and the results will be reported and discussed by key experts at this event.
1. Baseline study on cleaner energy finance initiative and challenges of financial institutions in the ASEAN region
2. Case studies on how to utilize visualization of carbon footprint reductions by financial institutions in the ASEAN region.

We believe that this event will further deepen CEFIA's activities in the field of finance and provide an opportunity for many stakeholders to participate.

(as of 26 Feb. 2021)

Open the room (Releasing virtual lobby at 12:45-)

[Moderator]
Mr. Enrique I. Florencio, Group Head, Operations & Sustainability Officer, Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP)

[Panelists]
Mr. Siddhartha Shah, Director, Advisory Division 2, Office of Public-Private Partnership, Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Mr. Colin Chen, Deputy General Manager, Head of Structured Finance Department, Asian Investment Banking Division, MUFG Bank Ltd.

Mr. Rustico Noli D. Cruz, Vice President and the Head of the Program Development and Management I Department, Development Bank of the Philippines

Mr. Mason Wallick, Managing Director of Clime Capital, Pte Ltd, Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF)

Dr. Peter du Pont, Ph.D., Managing Partner, Asia Clean Energy Partners Ltd., Asia Regional Coordinator, Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN)

Introduction of ADFIAP [Short video 0:54]

ADFIAP: Baseline Study on Clean Energy Finance Initiatives of Financial Institutions in the ASEAN Region [Video 12:26]

• ADFIAP: Baseline Study on Clean Energy Finance Initiatives of Financial Institutions in the ASEAN Region [PDF 454KB] Now Available

•  
• Asian Development Bank Transaction Advisory Services [PDF 317KB]

Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility (SEACEF) Catalytic development capital to
accelerate the low carbon transition in Southeast Asia [PDF 1,308KB]

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• PFAN in Asia: What It Is, How It Works, How You Can Engage [PDF 1,243KB]

Short break 14:00-14:15 (UTC+7) 

[Moderator]
Dr. Ayuha Shinji, Research Director, Climate Change Solutions Group, Sustainability Division, Mitsubishi Research Institute, Inc.

[Panelists]

Mr. Gursimran Rooprai, Inventor of CAFI®, Financial Institutions Group and (current) member of IFC Treasury team, International Finance Corporation (IFC)

Mr. Anouj Mehta, Southeast Asia Department, Innovation hub, Principal infrastructure specialist, Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Mr. Rodrigo Fermin P. Martinez, Project Origination Expert (Consultant), Asian Development Bank (ADB)

Ms. Ma. Nanette A. Biason, Head of Finance and Investment Center, Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP)

Ms. Sushara Vidyasagara, Chief Manager, Investment Banking, Investment Banking Unit Commercial Bank of Ceylon, PLC (CBC)

Introduction of Investment Banking Unit Commercial Bank of Ceylon, PLC [short video 03:09]

IFC: CAFI - Climate Assessment for Financial Institutions Platform [PDF 2,717KB]

ADB: Accelerating Green Finance for Post COVID-19 Recovery in Southeast Asia [PDF 2,615KB]