The UNEP FI Regional Roundtable Asia Pacific was held on 24-25 May in Seoul, South Korea. The event convened 375+ UNEP FI members, policymakers, civil society organisations, and academia to discuss the advancement of sustainable finance, its challenges, and solutions in Asia Pacific.
In addition to having the opportunity to network with the finance community in the region, speakers and participants explored important issues specific to the region, including net zero banking and insurance, ASEAN taxonomies as guiding frameworks for the finance sector, understanding and managing nature-related risks, financial health and inclusion, and more.
You can watch the recordings from the event here.
Time | Plenary Sessions – Day 1 (Grand Ballroom) | |
09:00 | Opening of UNEP FI Regional Roundtable Asia Pacific
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09:05 | Welcome Address
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09:15 | Opening keynote
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09:25 | Welcome keynote
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09:35 | Keynote speech
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09:45 | Keynote speech
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09:55 | Financing the transition towards a sustainable future in Asia Pacific
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10:55 | Break | |
11:20 | Strengthening the regulatory landscape of sustainable finance in Asia Pacific
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12:20 | What does the Global Biodiversity Framework mean for Asia Pacific
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12:45 | Lunch | |
Parallel sessions (Grand Ballroom) | Parallel sessions (Studio1-3) | |
13:35 | Deep dive into impact and target setting for banks
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Aligning insurance with climate goals
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14:35 | Next steps on adaptation and climate stress testing for financial institutions
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15:35 | Networking Break | |
16:10 | Need for active client engagement while decarbonizing portfolios
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Managing environmental, social and governance risks in life & health insurance business
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17:10 | End of Day 1 |
Time | Sessions – Day 2 | |
Parallel sessions (Grand Ballroom) | Parallel sessions (Studio 1-3) | |
09:00 | Opening of Day 2 | Opening of Day 2 |
09:05 | Role of data in assessing and managing ESG risk
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Addressing financial health in financial institutions
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09:55 | Opportunities and instruments for ESG Investing in Asia
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Sustainable land use and deforestation risks in Asia Pacific
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10:45 | Regulatory expectations on climate risk and biodiversity from financial institutions
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Finance perspectives on ocean health and plastics
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11:30 | Break | |
11:50 | Embedding sustainability into the culture and governance of financial institutions
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Deep dive into nature-related disclosures: TNFD consultation
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12:40 | Lunch | |
Plenary sessions (Grand Ballroom – 3rd Floor) | ||
13:30 | Keynote speech
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13:40 | Financing sustainable development through a just and inclusive transition: critical for a low carbon economy in Asia
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14:15 | Achieving net zero in Asia Pacific
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15:15 | The future of responsible banking in APAC
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16:05 | Closing remarks
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16:15 | End of UNEP FI Regional Roundtable Asia Pacific 2023 |
Platinum Sponsor:
Shinhan Financial Group (“Shinhan”) is one of the leading financial institutions in Korea in terms of total assets, revenues, profitability and capital adequacy, among others. Incorporated in 2001, Shinhan is the first privately-held financial holding company to be established in Korea. As of June 30, 2022, Shinhan has 16 direct subsidiaries offering a wide range of financial products and services, including commercial banking, corporate banking, private banking, credit card, asset management, brokerage and insurance services. Under its corporate vision that reads “We believe finance should be More Friendly, More Secure, More Creative,” Shinhan is empowering its customers through finance. Shinhan is also further accelerating the pace of ESG management across its strong online and offline channels, which adds to more than 1,700 channels in Korea and 244 channels across 20 countries overseas, to take action against climate change, resolve environmental and social issues, and ultimately “Do the Right Thing for a Wonderful World.”
For more information please visit: http://www.shinhangroup.com/en/crm/csrreport/csr_subsidiary.jsp
Hana Financial Group, grown out of Korea Investment and Finance, was created in July 1991 when the letter was reincorporated into a banking corporation. During the early days immediately following its debut as a bank, we succeeded in creating a perception among consumers that Hana is ‘A small, but reliable bank,’ through professional services and attentive customer relations management. Today, Hana Financial Group is one of the major players of Korea’s banking industry, also enjoying recognition from the world’s leading financial papers like Euromoney, finance Asia and Asia money, who selected it as the ‘Best Korean Bank’. With its net income for 2004 standing at a historic 1 trillion won, Hana Financial Group has now emerged as an uncontested frontrunner of Korea’s financial industry, thanks to a corporate culture that values autonomy, self motivation and progressiveness, and to the efficient management of its organization which rapidly grew in size over the years.
Bronze Sponsor:
BNZ PARTNERS is a net zero-specialized advisory and accelerator. It is a subsidiary company of ECO&PARTNERS and an official Supporting Institution of UNEP Finance Initiative. It advises financial institutions, industry and governments to develop and implement net zero strategy. It designs country-wide climate policies including, K-ETS (Emission Trading Scheme in Korea), K-Taxonomy, TCFD-related policy, green finance plan, etc. Also, as an accelerator, it is discovering, nurturing and investing in climate tech start-ups in Korea and around the world as part of its Net Zero solution.
For more information please visit: http://bnzpartners.co.kr/en/
Partners:
The Chartered Banker Institute is a global professional education body for bankers, based in the UK. Established by Royal Charter, we are a not-for-profit educational charity with a mission to enhance and sustain socially purposeful, responsible, professional banking in the public interest. We do this by developing and supporting bankers’ education and professional development throughout their careers
We are the largest UK professional body for bankers, with more than 33,000 members – individual banking professionals who make an ongoing commitment to developing their customer-focused ethical professionalism.
https://www.charteredbanker.com/
Media partner:
Established in 2009, Eco-Business is Asia Pacific’s largest media and business intelligence organisation dedicated to sustainable development and ESG performance.
We are the only organisation in the region with a news, advisory and innovation business that spans across the entire sustainability ecosystem. Our award-winning news platform delivers high quality trusted content to a senior audience around the world, while our ESG Intelligence team provides affordable advisory and training services to a wide range of organisations. MNCs, SMEs, governments, multilateral institutes and civic society organisations across the world tap on our suite of thought leadership services across multimedia platforms, as well as advisory services, training and development.
We also match capital to the best innovations that solve specific sustainability challenges and accelerate the time it takes for ideas to reach commercial markets. We are headquartered in Singapore, with a presence in China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and correspondents in major cities around the world.

Achala Abeysinghe
Director & Head of Programs for Asia, GGGI

Esther An
Chief Sustainability Officer, City Developments Limited (CDL)

Kristina Anguelova
Head of Asia Sustainable Finance, WWF-Singapore

Shigeru Ariizumi
Vice Commissioner for International Affairs, Japan Financial Services Agency, Vice Chair, IOSCO Board

Butch Bacani
Head of Insurance

Monica Bae
Director, Investor Practice, the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC)

Karine Bueno
Individual Review Team Lead

Laura Canas da Costa
Co-Lead, Global Policy

Mustafa Chaudhry
Co-Lead, Communications

Jeong-hoon Cho
Head of ESG division, Shinhan Financial Group (South Korea)

Herry Cho
Managing Director, Head of Sustainability and Sustainable Finance, Singapore Exchange (SGX)

Jinsuk Choi
Head of Sustainable Investment Team, Korea Investment Corporation

Farzanah Chowdhury
Managing Director & CEO, Green Delta Insurance Company Ltd.

Shanning Dong
General Manager, Green Finance Department, Bank of Jiangsu

Miyako Enokibori
Associate Director, CDP Worldwide-Japan

Remco Fischer
Co-head of NZAOA Secretariat; Climate Lead, UNEP FI

Romie Goedicke den Hertog
Co-Lead, Nature

Henry Gonzalez
Deputy Executive Director, Green Climate Fund (GCF)

Peiyuan Guo
Chairman of SynTao Green Finance and UNEP FI Advisor in China

Gabor Gyura
Capacity Building Coordinator

Young-Joo Ham
Chairman & CEO of Hana Financial Group

Wonsuk Han
Head of ESG Planning Team, Korea Development Bank

Tiffany Hodgson
Head of Sustainability and Inclusion, Green Climate Fund (GCF)

JooYoun Hong
Director of ESG Secretariat, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance

Tomohiro Ishikawa
Chief Regulatory Engagement Officer, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG)

Lyn I. Javier
Assistant Governor of the Policy and Specialized Supervision Sub-Sector, Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas

Wonsik Jeong
Investment Manager, D3Jubilee Partners

Jon Jie
Chief Operations Officer of Marina Chain

Ick Jin
Director General, Economic Analysis Department, the National Assembly Budget Office

Ok-Dong Jin
Chairman, Shinhan Financial Group

Geetu Joshi
Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance of the Government of India

Oh Jung tack
Deputy President of ESG Group, Hana Financial Group

Seiji Kawazoe
Global Initiative Fellow, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management

Louise Kim
Director, Sustainable Finance, ING (Seoul branch)

Sang-Hyup Kim
Co-Chairperson, Presidential Commission on Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth

Jong Dae Kim
Director, Green Finance Graduate Program and ESG Centre, Sustainability Management Research Institute, Inha University

Gwang Soo Kim
Chairman and CEO, Korea Federation of Banks

Dr. Soyoung Kim
Vice Chairman of Financial Services Commission, Korea

Simone Kramer
Head of Product, Net-Zero Data Public Utility

YoungJin Lee
Head of Korea, ESG Solutions, S&P Global Sustainable1

Mee-kyung Lee
CEO, Korea Green Foundation

Jong-O Lee
Director, Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (KoSIF)

Xiaotian Li
Marketing Director, Aegon-Industrial Fund

Dae Woong Lim
Korea and ASEAN Advisor, UNEP FI

Rajesh Malhotra
Group Chief Financial and Investment Officer, Myanma Awba Group CEO, Maha Agriculture Microfinance

Anouj Mehta
Country Director, Thailand Resident Mission, and Former Head, the ASEAN Catalytic Green Finance facility, ADB

Edward Moncreiffe
Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Global Insurance

Hye-sook Moon
Managing Director and Head of ESG division, KB Financial Group

Masaaki Nagamura
Fellow International Initiatives, Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co., Ltd.

Adam Ng
Asia-Pacific Lead, GFRI and Sustainable Finance Advisor (Malaysia), WWF

Ikuo Ozawa
Deputy General Manager, Sustainability Planning Department, Mizuho Financial Group, Inc

Tae-Young Paik
Member, International Sustainability Standards Board

Diana Parusheva-Lowery
Executive Director, Public Policy and Sustainable Finance, ASIFMA

Joana Pedro
Social Lead

Regula Schegg
Managing Director, Asia, Circulate Capital

Pyoungseok Seo
Director of Financial Stability Research Division, Bank of Korea

Luanne Sieh
Senior Managing Director, Head of Group Sustainability, CIMB Group and Working Group Chair, CEO Action Network

Masayuki (Masa) Takanashi
Group CSO & GM, Corporate Sustainability Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group

Hiroshi Takashima
Research Counselor and Head of Sustainability Research, The Norinchukin Bank

Nirnita Talukdar
Regional Lead, Asia Pacific

Grace Tam
Director, Investments, Clean Energy Finance Corporation

George Thomas
Professor (Research & Non-Life), College of Insurance, Insurance Institute of India

Alexandra Boakes Tracy
President, Hoi Ping Ventures Hong Kong

Hiroko Urashima
Manager, Sustainability Department, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings, Inc.

Eric Usher
Head, UNEP Finance Initiative

Constant van Aerschot
Director Asia Pacific, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S)

Tiange Wei
Asia-Pacific Lead, PCAF & Managing Consultant, Guidehouse

Neha Yadav
Business Development Director, Descartes Underwriting

Hae Jun Yang
Deputy Senior Manager, Woori Financial Group

Yuki Yasui
Managing Director, Asia Pacific Network, Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ)

Junice Yeo
Executive Director & Head of ESG Intelligence, Eco-Business