Photo: Aji Styawan / Climate Visuals
Awareness of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) climate disclosure guidelines has increased among Asian financial regulators, with nearly 70% of those surveyed planning to introduce mandatory disclosures, a study from the Asian Development Bank Institute found.
Several regulators are also planning to require disclosures of greenhouse gas emissions, with 42% planning to require and 8% planning to recommend scope 3 emissions, which include the whole supply chain including suppliers, as well as scope 1 and 2, covering direct and indirect operational emissions. Around 25% are planning to mandate or recommend just scope 1 and 2, while the remaining 25% undecided.
The survey of 12 financial regulators in Asia shows that the region’s understanding of the ISSB and the importance of mandatory climate disclosure has increased drastically from when the first survey was conducted a year ago, said report author Sayuri Shirai, a professor at Keio University and former board member of the Bank of Japan.
“I was very surprised to be honest, especially about ISSB disclosure [and] the level of their understanding, because last February, when we met these financial regulators … they didn’t know anything about ISSB,” she said.
The scope of companies subject to ISSB-climate related disclosures was also surprisingly high, with 70% indicating they plan to apply to some unlisted companies as well as listed ones.
Meanwhile, the survey also showed that regulators have a high level of understanding of the need for voluntary carbon credits and have made efforts to enhance the quality and soundness of said markets.
Nearly 70% of respondents said they plan to require companies to disclose whether carbon credits are technology or nature-based, while 25% intend to require or recommend disclosure of whether the credits meet high-quality standards.
The spread of ISSB-aligned requirements is encouraging, as standardised climate-related corporate disclosure is essential for encouraging climate finance, she added.
Financial regulators across Asia have steadily been increasing their work on climate finance. Both the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China have their own green taxonomies which are largely aligned with the one developed by the EU.
Shirai, who conducted the survey as an advisor on sustainable policies at the Asian Development Bank Institute, said part of the increase in understanding and mandatory reporting was down to education and work within the financial regulatory space. But part is also down to a need for green financing in Asian countries.
“So far, cross-border capital flows of climate finance are still limited. So they are trying to develop their own market because a lot of Asian countries are becoming middle-income countries,” she said.
But Asian countries still want to bring in money from abroad, which means they need to demonstrate progress on disclosures, as well as awareness of ISSB standards, Shirai said. While the US has pulled back from its climate policies, with the SEC freezing its climate disclosure rules, the trend in Asia “will not change, because they are already facing serious physical risk”.
This page was last updated April 11, 2025
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Moriah Costa is the Editor-in-Chief of Green Central Banking and has over a decade of experience writing about banking and finance. She is an award-winning American journalist based in Paris and has written for major international publications, including Reuters, The Guardian, and S&P Global. Having grown up in water-stressed Arizona, she has always had a strong interest in bringing awareness to climate and environmental issues.
