Resident Coordinator's Remarks for Responsible Investment in Practice: Undertaking Stewardship with a Focus on Climate Change

Khun Thawatchai, Acting Secretary-General, Securities and Exchange Commission Distinguished investors, business leaders and colleagues.

I am honored to join you at this important seminar that will provide in-depth knowledge for investors on climate action at a juncture where accelerating the SDGs will be pivotal for the future of the planet, people, and economy.

Let me thank the co-hosts for making this event possible.

My special thanks to the Securities and Exchange Commission for your role in supporting the establishment of a sustainable investment ecosystem for the private sector, banks, and investors to accelerate sustainable and green transition.

I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the panelists joining us online.

Importantly, all the speakers today are women from leading global investment companies, a demonstration of women’s power as they lead the thinking in support of the green transformation.

Today’s event is a great opportunity to hear from them directly of what has worked in their companies as they scale up support for climate and to adapt them to the investment context in Thailand.

Capital markets have a huge influence on the economy and are one of the key drivers of sustainable growth in Thailand.  

With this comes great responsibility on the private sector as companies large and small will be vital to advancing the green transformation by increasing investments to support deep decarbonization across industry.

Analysis suggests that Thailand’s green infrastructure requires an initial investment of about $32 billion. This can be reached if the threshold for green lending and investment is set for as low as 6.3%.

ESG provides the framework for these investments while adhering to the Principles of Responsible Investment adds to businesses’ credibility and supports the standardization of these norms.

It is heartening to see that interest in PRI is growing in Thailand with the SEC playing a critical role in owning this agenda and putting in place measures to avoid greenwashing.

Importantly, green investments are not only beneficial for the environment, but they also impact bottom lines positively in the medium to long term.

We have seen this in Thailand, where the private sector is scaling up investments in clean technologies in the steel, aluminum and lead industry at their own cost based on pilots undertaken by the UN together with the Ministry of Industry.

This follows a global trend where investments in sustainable funds have consistently outperformed traditional funds by nearly a percentage point.

Our panelists, I am sure, will speak to this issue based on their own experiences.

Equally critical is investment stewardship.

This will require bankers, investors, and asset managers to work closely with CEOs of large companies and SMEs alike in handholding and promoting green pathways for business operations.

This transition needs to be managed in the shift from unsustainable to sustainable resources and practices.

In the context of Thailand, the Government’s policy framework sets this as a priority in line with the country’s BCG policy agenda.

This is reflected in an ongoing shift to turn the country into a manufacturing hub for EVs and in efforts to eliminate single-use plastics.

These are opportunities that need to be leveraged by the private sector in its transition to low-carbon and green practices.

The UN comes into this equation by bringing to bear best available technologies and environmental practices combined with integrated policy advice in close partnership with the Government and the private sector.

This is resulting in an increase in co-financing for green projects to the tune of close to $131 million, which will need to be scaled up even further for accelerating this transformation.

We also need to leverage the bond markets to scale up capital generation.

Currently less than 1% of the global bond market prioritizes green investments.

Yet when these investments are leveraged, the results are transformative.

For example, the Government of Indonesia with technical assistance from the UN introduced nearly $750 million in bonds, which were subscribed twice over for targeting SDG-related outcomes.

These have included procuring vaccines during the pandemic and offering scholarships to disadvantaged students to leave no one behind. 

What we need now is to accelerate this kind of transformative financing.

By sharing your experiences in today’s discussions, we will help generate creative solutions for the future.

The UN in Thailand looks forward to working with you all as the country embarks on this sustainable and green journey with transformative results.

Thank you.