Don’t Let Precision Get in the Way of Action on Sustainability

World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore's (WWF-Singapore) sustainable banking assessment report has found progress among Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) banks on sustainability. In particular, there has been progress in setting the broad direction and starting on implementation. Much less progress has been made to date on impact through client engagement, portfolio decarbonisation targets, and disclosures. The best way to make progress on underlying data gaps is to focus on tools to incrementally improve accuracy, rather than waiting too long for precision.

ASEAN banks have made noticeable improvements in making public statements on sustainability and starting implementation such as through narrow sustainability-related exclusionsBanks still need to...