Sustainable Treasurer 2025: unlocking potential through purpose-led practices

A sustainable path to transform the treasury function

Sustainability cannot be overlooked in today’s rapidly evolving landscape of ESG, market dynamics, innovative financing solutions and desire for resilience in treasury operations.

As a powerful signal of the momentum in sustainable finance, the Greater Bay Area has rapidly emerged as a gateway for sustainable capital in Asia, according to Adaline Zheng, chief executive officer of UOB Hong Kong. “Hong Kong’s advanced financial infrastructure and strategic position make it a cornerstone in accelerating capital flows toward the green transition across the region.”

She highlighted clear regulatory frameworks and strong investor demand as helping to spur efforts in the local markets in driving green loans, sustainable financing, banking, ESG disclosure and transition financing.

Yet this backdrop also calls on treasurers to play their role as critical navigators of sustainability. Beyond managing liquidity, risk and funding, Zheng urged treasurers to embed sustainability within finance operations – from ESG-linked loans to sustainable financing supply chain management to carbon cautious cash management. “It requires a new mindset and new mechanisms, but it also unlocks new opportunities.”

Keeping sustainability at the forefront

Despite these goals, the geopolitical and macro environment is playing its part in slowing sustainable finance initiatives in Asia for the time being.

For example, while some corporate business activity and planning is on hold during such uncertainty, Anthony Tse, head of corporate banking at UOB Hong Kong, said senior management is taking a much closer look at ESG risk in today’s landscape. “Everybody is waking up to the fact they need to adapt if they are going to carry on doing business.”

Ultimately, regardless of geopolitics, tariffs and supply chain management dominating the headlines, sustainability is a long-term, non-negotiable trend. “You can't ignore strategic initiatives like sustainability and decarbonisation when you make capital investment decisions, and manage your supply chains and stakeholders,” said Gopul Shah, who runs corporate treasury and trade structured finance for Golden Agri-Resources.

More broadly, he believes many factors support the overarching goal. “Sustainability, decarbonisation, talent reskilling, digitisation, automation and market-driven innovation are interconnected and essential to achieving long-term resilience, agility and sustainable growth."

Shah also highlighted some specific sustainability challenges within the agricultural sector, including re-skilling people. “Sustainability in every industry including agriculture, plantation, mining, extraction, and oil and gas is complex… a lot of taxonomies, non-trade barriers, regulations, customer and stakeholders demands and reputation risk, need to be taken into account,” said Shah.

Meanwhile, for property developers and managers, catering to large, international investors looking for ESG-friendly buildings increasingly means ticking boxes of innovation and sustainability.

However, complying with regulatory requirements and reporting, such as Scope 3, poses big challenges, in turn calling on developers to focus on data accuracy from their suppliers, explained Johnny Yu, head of sustainability at Henderson Land Development Company. Climate risk is another increasingly common issue, he added, especially for banks in terms of lending, and investors when allocating capital.

When it comes to financing via sustainability-linked loans and other options to facilitate a more purpose-driven treasury, given that many large corporates are already on their sustainability journey, the conversation is more focused on the key performance indicators (KPIs) they want to set, said Tse.

In Yu’s view, to align financing options with sustainability goals, it’s important to have a clear strategy at the outset, plus support from senior management is key.

Unlocking the potential in transition finance

Among growing areas of focus for treasurers is transition finance, to provide strategies for emissions-intensive and high-impact sectors to truly transform the value chain.

For example, for Hong Kong-based electricity provider CLP Power, there is strong emphasis on decarbonisation, driven by the reality that the latest government data shows 61% of carbon emissions in Hong Kong is from the electricity industry.

In response, CLP has raised billions of dollars through green bonds, transition bonds and other climate-related financing instruments under its Climate Action Finance Framework to support its decarbonisation goals, explained group treasurer Sharon Wang.

Further, the company has been working with SMEs – which contribute nearly half of Hong Kong’s GDP – to help them lower emissions and improve energy efficiency. This is achieved through partnerships with banks, offering SMEs that receive energy from CLP and complete energy audits exclusive access to interest-free or preferential-rate financing “The purpose is to help them decarbonise, and at the same time without derailing their cash flow,” Wang added.

For other high-emitting industries like shipping and aviation, which are further behind on the decarbonisation curve, Christine Loh, chief development strategist at the Institute for the Environment within Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), said she expects to see a far-reaching transformation.

This will involve alignment within organisations, such as between the finance teams and the board, along with the sustainability department. “You’re going to see that in the aviation… [and] shipping sectors, and in many other major sectors,” she added.

In particular for cargo owners, Loh said this might mean sharing costs with consumers given this is a revolutionary transition away from fossil fuels, which have fuelled the global economy since the Industrial Revolution.

Loh also believes part of the transition is likely to involve strategic decisions to see first-mover advantages, or negotiations over costs with suppliers about the positive knock-on effect of a product having a lower carbon footprint.

Inevitably, these and other initiatives rely on data. “The key to making good decisions is standardisation,” added Dennis Wan, market director APAC (ex-China and Japan), CDP, “[creating] comparable and trustworthy data.”

He pointed to Japan as an example of a market with advanced disclosure. “There, sustainable finance is burgeoning, because there is trust in the data being disclosed.”

Investors also continue to play a key role in driving sustainable finance. For Jason Mortimer, head of sustainable investment - fixed income at Nomura Asset Management in Japan, this is an important way to improve risk-adjusted returns, through information asymmetry.

“Where you make your alpha is from the sustainable data, which is a little bit idiosyncratic… but that is actually where you can have an edge,” he explained, pointing to the firm’s net zero bond fund in Japan, which complements its allocation to green bonds with attractive opportunities in companies which have transitioned by moving towards renewables.

According to Mortimer, this reflects the extent to which sustainable finance is evolving. “It is not just about solar panels and EVs; it is now trying to target the range of opportunities and risks across the spectrum.”

ASEAN’s growth story in green finance

In other parts of the region, such as Southeast Asia, sustainability also continues to gain traction.

For example, ESG loan proceeds reached US$42.9 billion in 2024. “This growth underscores the region's dedication to green energy investment, decarbonisation and electric vehicle supply chain development,” said Zheng.

Adrian Ow, managing director and head of ESG solutions, group wholesale banking at UOB, also sees strong momentum behind several trends shaping the ESG environment in ASEAN. “This is fast emerging as a region in which we've seen a lot of international investor attention, especially as a result of the US-China trade tensions.”

Firstly, ESG is evolving from compliance to competitiveness. “Countries and corporates are no longer pursuing sustainability just for pure reputational reasons. They are chasing it for growth,” he added.

Secondly, Ow noted a transition from a fragmented to system-level approach to sustainability. More specifically, rather than isolated intervention, such as investing in solar without upgrading the grid, or promoting EVs without greening the power mix or ensuring sufficient charging infrastructure, there is now more integrated thinking across energy, transport and even agricultural value chains.

Thirdly, the push for inclusivity, such as by incorporating SMEs within supply chain financing, is part of a shifting emphasis towards scalable solutions that leave nobody behind, added Ow.

At the same time, ASEAN governments from Singapore and Thailand, to Malaysia and Indonesia, are making bold moves in terms of developing taxonomies. The next step is to create consistency in standards and definitions, to facilitate the mobilisation of global capital into the region. “What's really exciting,” said Ow, “is that now the regulators are also embracing the concept of blended finance and public-private partnerships.”

According to Ow, those ASEAN markets and sectors holding the most promise for growth and sustainable practices include: the EV ecosystem, including manufacturing as well as the entire supply chain; the bio-economy and regenerative agriculture, given that around 30% of Southeast Asia’s wealth comes from natural capital; and grid modernisation, to help tap into the full potential of renewable energy.

For companies wanting to capitalise on such sustainability initiatives in the ASEAN region, Ow recommended either green circular financing or transition financing.

Sustainability in collaboration

It is also notable that achieving sustainability can never be in isolation. An effective outcome is for finance and sustainability teams to break down silos and work together to create meaningful purposes, said Jemi Lam, financial controller, Belton Technology Group.

UOB Hong Kong’s Zheng also agrees it is a shared responsibility which requires collaboration – including treasurers engaging with their banks on sustainable instruments, and advocating for better data and disclosure.

Click here to see more details about the event, including speakers and the agenda.