Eco-Business

A Singapore government-backed project to build a large language model inclusive of Southeast Asian data has drawn fans and critics.

A global survey finds that while Asian investors are highly concerned about climate risk, only one in five diligently look at Scope 3 emissions – which typically make up the bulk of a company’s emissions – when sizing up investments.

Business executives convene at the Green Zone at the COP28 climate talks in December.

The UN-backed net-zero target validator started removing firms with commitments that did not make the grade early last year. Of 173 companies dropped from its list, Eco-Business found that 49 were based in Asia Pacific. Why is it so hard for firms to get science-based targets approved?

Asian People's Movement on Debt and Development protesting against coal financing in Japan

Despite major Asian banks, namely in Singapore and Japan, announcing coal exclusions in recent years, growing captive coal power in Indonesia and lax restrictions on corporate finance to developers offer new coal financing “havens”, a study finds.

By Gabrielle See

By Zeke Hausfather

By Raja Aiman

All Japan News →

The United States' decision to pause permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities does not threaten Asia’s energy security or decarbonisation goals. By Sam Reynolds

Achieving net zero emissions requires compromise but energy justice for all needs to be at the heart of any decision. For all the talk, it's not happening, yet. By Dr Justin See

Founder and managing director Jessica Cheam investigates the relationship between business and our natural world, and shares about the genesis of Eco-Business in this book chapter contribution to 'Peace and Nature', a book compilation of 50 essays and edited by Professor Tommy Koh, Lye Lin Heng and Shawn Lum launched in Singapore recently. By Jessica Cheam

To achieve carbon neutrality, ASEAN+3 countries must overhaul their economic strategies, which will almost certainly mean a period of slower growth. By mobilising public and private climate finance, however, policymakers could mitigate the transition’s impact and create a greener and more resilient continent. By Masyita Crystallin and Marthe M. Hinojales

By Firdaus Cahyadi

By Liu Yuanling

By Mohd Hazmi Mohd Rusli

By Mekala Krishnan and Olivia White

All Japan Opinion →

EB Studio There are vast mineral riches lying on the ocean floor that could help to power the energy transition, but is the environmental cost of extracting them worth the risk?

Toyota will partner Japanese car-sharing service operator Park24 for a six-month experiment leasing the i-Road concept vehicle, with …

New ad takes aim at Tepco’s lack of transparency on the water contamination at Fukushima’s nuclear site. Watch the video here:

The Japanese conglomerate is developing technologies that can power smart communities, including electric buses equipped with GPS and fast-charging batteries.

All Japan Videos →

Japan-based academic Kim Schumacher, who coined the term "competence greenwashing", believes that the pursuit of societal harmony might be standing in the way of Asia calling out greenwashing. He tells the Eco-Business Podcast how exaggerated ESG claims are likely to be tackled in 2023 and beyond.

Eco-Business talks to Peter Kiernan, lead energy analyst for the Economist Intelligence Unit, to unpack a new landmark report from the International Energy Agency, which proposes an immediate ban on fossil fuels extraction to curb global warming.

China, Japan and Korea have just announced exciting decarbonisation targets. On the Eco-Business podcast, Dr Frank Rijsberman, director general of the Global Green Growth Institute, talks about what these targets mean for the region's development and our climate.

Pro-miners argue that deep-sea mining is essential to enable the energy transition. On the Eco-Business podcast, Sian Owen of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition argues why nature's last frontier should be protected, not exploited.

All Japan Podcasts →