Overview

The East and Southeast Asia Green Central Banking Scorecard is a benchmark series produced by Positive Money. It provides a comprehensive evaluation of the progress made by 13 central banks and financial supervisors within East and Southeast Asia in incorporating environmental and climate-related considerations into their operations. The report specifically focuses on the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) grouping, which includes the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations—Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam—alongside the major East Asian economies of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. This document represents the first dedicated country-by-country analysis of green central banking policies for this specific regional bloc.

Purpose

The scorecard exists to serve as a benchmark for measuring future progress and to identify leaders and laggards within the regional green finance landscape. It is designed to inform the decisions of policymakers, central bankers, and financial advocates by highlighting innovative policy developments and identifying critical gaps in regulation. By providing a comparative lens, the series aims to accelerate ambition across the APT, encouraging institutions to use their power to direct finance away from ecologically destructive industries and towards activities essential for a just and orderly transition to a sustainable economy. It specifically addresses the need for trillions of dollars in annual investment to meet global climate goals and reverse environmental degradation in the Asian context.

Methodology

The methodology utilised in this report is adapted from the analytic framework developed for the G20 Green Central Banking Scorecard series. Each country’s performance is examined across four distinct categories of action:

• Research and Advocacy: Participation in international initiatives and the publication of research on environmental issues.
• Monetary Policy: The use of tools such as collateral frameworks, lending schemes, and reserve requirements to incentivise green investment.
• Financial Policy: The implementation of environmental disclosures, climate stress testing, and risk management standards for private financial institutions.
• Leading by Example: The adoption of sustainable investment policies for non-policy portfolios and the support of national taxonomies.

Policies are further categorised by their ‘impact’ level (low, medium, or high) and their implementation stage (under discussion, formal commitment, or fully implemented). Points are awarded based on a scoring matrix, with maximum totals available for each category to ensure that only the most impactful measures allow for a full score. The institutional scope of the analysis is expanded beyond central banks to include financial supervisors and securities commissions, providing a holistic view of the green finance infrastructure.

Use for finance professionals

Finance professionals can utilise this benchmark to gain detailed insights into the evolving regulatory and supervisory architecture of East and Southeast Asian markets. The country-by-country analysis helps professionals identify emerging requirements for mandatory climate-related financial disclosures and the specific technical screening criteria of regional taxonomies, such as those in Malaysia and Singapore. By understanding which central banks are integrating green securities into collateral frameworks or implementing preferential lending rates for sustainable projects, investment professionals can better align their portfolios with regional transition pathways. Furthermore, the report provides a factual basis for assessing transition risks and opportunities, particularly in countries where regulatory tightening is expected for carbon-intensive sectors such as coal and fossil fuel production.