In brief
ASEAN publishes first guide to unlock private adaptation finance
The ASEAN Capital Markets Forum has published Version 1 of its mitigation co-benefit and Adaptation for Resilience (mARs) Guide, a voluntary companion to the ASEAN Taxonomy intended to help investors identify and finance climate adaptation projects. Southeast Asia needs an estimated USD 422 billion in climate finance by 2030, USD 293 billion for mitigation and USD 129 billion for adaptation, yet adaptation finance remains scarce and predominantly public, with private investment held back by uncertainty over how to identify, measure and assess the bankability of adaptation activities.
The guide supports assessments under the Taxonomy's Environmental Objective 2 (Climate Change Adaptation) across three focus sectors:
- Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation (ISIC E)
- Agriculture, forestry and fishing (ISIC A)
- Construction and real estate (ISIC F/L)
It offers an entry point for identifying climate hazards and resilience themes, principles and criteria for selecting technology-based and nature-based solutions, and a non-exhaustive list of applicable solutions. It also introduces initial considerations on screening for maladaptation and a voluntary route to demonstrate mitigation co-benefits.
Crucially, the guide sets no new eligibility thresholds—it is designed to be read alongside the ASEAN Taxonomy, not as a standalone framework, and all its recommendations remain voluntary and non-binding.
