On 30 March, the very first in-person/hybrid Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS 2023) was held in Bali, Indonesia, with the theme “Imagining a Net Zero ASEAN”. The ACGF co-organized the event and facilitated three thematic sessions on financing the energy transition, sustainable blue economy, and transition finance, respectively. The symposium attracted over 2,600 virtual and 400 in-person attendees. All recorded sessions are publicly available on YouTube.

On 23 February, ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department and the Blue SEA Finance Hub hosted a hybrid workshop titled “Investing in Thailand’s Blue Economy” in Bangkok with support from the ACGF. Over 200 representatives from government agencies, state-owned enterprises, private sector companies and financial institutions participated. ADB Thailand Country Director Anouj Mehta provided opening remarks, while representatives from Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), and Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas (BAPPENAS) gave keynote speeches.

On 7 February 2023, ACGF Head Scott Roberts participated as a panelist in Sustainability Week Asia, an annual event organized by Economist Impact which took place from 7 to 9 February 2023 at Marina Sands in Singapore. He participated in a panel discussion of the topic 'Mobilizing capital to deliver net zero' with fellow panelists from WWF and the International Capital Market Association (ICMA). The panel discussion was exclusive to in-person attendees.

From 30 January to 1 February 2023, ADB and the ACGF co-hosted an Ocean Finance training program for Indonesia government officials as part of the Blue Finance Accelerator program, a collaboration with UNDP Indonesia and the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs Republic of Indonesia (CMMIA). Ghislain de Valon, Senior Infrastructure Specialist at ACGF, delivered opening remarks alongside colleagues from CMMIA and UNDP Indonesia. The Blue Finance Accelerator is a joint initiative between ADB and UNDP Indonesia aiming at accelerating the growth of Indonesian SMEs in the blue economy and is managed by the Blue SEA Finance Hub.

ADB has approved a $50 million policy-based loan package and $23 million in project investments to support the Cambodian Energy Transition Sector Development Program including a $10 million loan from the ACGF. For the $23 million in infrastructure investments, the Climate Investment Funds will provide a $6 million loan and $5 million grant in concessional climate finance, while the Green Climate Fund will extend a $12 million loan through the ACGF Green Recovery Program.

The Government Housing Bank of Thailand, with support from ADB, has issued its first sustainability bonds to refinance and finance the bank’s environmental and social projects, including homeownership programs for low- to middle-income households and to promote ownership of energy-efficient housing units. ADB provided technical assistance under ACGF's GSS+ Bonds Initiative for Southeast Asia.

In his speech at the second Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Global Dialogue on 13 November 2022 in Cambodia, ADB Vice President for Private Sector Operations and Public–Private Partnerships Ashok Lavasa mentioned the ACGF as one of two examples of several new climate change mitigation initiatives that ADB has launched. The other example was the innovative Energy Transition Mechanism which was launched last year at COP26. Besides climate change, VP Lavasa’s speech pointed out health and education as two important areas for ASEAN which ADB is already focusing on.

At COP27, ADB announced a $15 million technical assistance program to build a pipeline of climate projects in Southeast Asia. The TA program Accelerating Climate Transitions through Green Finance was presented by ADB Southeast Asia Director General Ramesh Subramaniam on 9 November 2022 at a side event in the Japan Pavilion. Projects identified by the program could benefit from further funding by the ACGF and its partners. Read the news release.

At the 29th APEC Finance Ministers’ Meeting in Bangkok, Anouj Mehta, Country Director for Thailand and Unit Head of the ACGF, presented ADB’s views on policy development, knowledge and thematic initiatives for scaling up sustainable finance, including the achievements of the ACGF. The ACGF was later highlighted by the APEC Chair, Thailand Minister of Finance and ADB Governor Arkhom Termpittayapaisith, as one of the “mechanisms that can help APEC economies to access sustainable finance”. Furthermore, Mr. Arkhom said the meeting discussed accessing sustainable finance through capital markets, which the ACGF is championing through its recently launched GSS+ Bonds Initiative for Southeast Asia.

On 29 September, ADB launched the ASEAN GSS+ Bonds Initiative which will be anchored and hosted in ADB’s Thailand Resident Mission and supported by the ACGF, aiming to strengthen thematic bonds issuance by governments, cities, and SOEs. ADB Vice President for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Ahmed Saeed delivered the keynote address and emphasized the importance of scaling up green and thematic bonds for Southeast Asia. In her opening remarks, Thailand’s Public Debt Management Office Director General Patricia Mongkhonvanit highlighted the opportunities and challenges in scaling up thematic bonds in Thailand. Other attendees included government agencies, bankers, investment funds, and ADB staff.