Helge Muenkel, Chief Sustainability Officer, DBS Group
The Global Climate Risk Index, published by Germanwatch, is one of the longest running indices that tracks the toll of climate change. It’s 2025 ranking put India sixth in the top ten countries worst affected by extreme weather events such as heavy rain, flooding, cyclones and extreme heat. Between the years of 1993 and 2022, India faced more than 400 severe climate events leading to an estimated $180 billion worth of damage. Rising temperatures and a world battered by severe weather affects all of us, as well as being a major risk for the economy and businesses, our communities and future generations. While the impact of these events is undeniable, there has been a recent polarisation of climate conversations which in turn have raised concerns over the future course of action. Given the de-prioritisation of net-zero commitments in some parts of the world, why is it still vital to continue supporting a climate-resilient economy across Asia and in India?
India remains the world’s fastest growing major economy with rapidly advancing urbanisation and industrialisation – all the high-emitting aspects that come along with an elevated growth rate. This means that there will be a sizeable challenge in trying to balance carbon considerations along with economic expansion and people-centric development. And this is precisely why staying the course on sustainability and ensuring a just transition, so that future generations can live well, is so important.
The good news is that there has been continued and robust support for sustainability and climate actions from policy makers and regulators, both in Asia and India, who have adopted a pragmatic approach to balancing economic, social and environmental considerations. India has achieved significant headway in setting itself ambitions goals and following through. Although globally India is the third highest emitter of greenhouse gases, its historical contributions to emissions are much lower than those from Norther America and Europe, and its per capita emissions are still much lower today than other major economies. The country achieved two of its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) goals for 2030 ahead of schedule, lowering the emission intensity of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 33 percent between 2005 and 2019 and having more than 40 percent of the installed capacity of electricity generation coming from non-fossil fuel energy. This has paved the way for a milestone to be set this year - the share of clean energy in the power stack is expected to rise above 50 percent, five years before the intended deadline of 2030 (BloombergNEF). Enabling policies in India have directly supported the progress on tackling the energy trilemma, i.e. the aim to attain energy reliability and affordability as well as the greening of energy supply.
While it remains important to support the greening of the economy, the vast majority of assets and economic activities globally, and in India, are not green, and it is critical to also allocate capital to these, either to shut them down early, or to support their transition to becoming greener. Transition finance enables the mobilisation of capital to hard to abate sectors to help them decarbonise and can also be channelled towards the adaptation of infrastructure and environmental systems to deal with the effects of climate change. For financiers, it will be key to scale transition finance in the coming years to help companies as they transform their operations, all of which will contribute to climate resiliency.
No one can undertake this journey alone. Banks play a crucial role leveraging sectoral expertise to manage risks and customising funding to align with sustainable business goals and industry regulations. As we recently laid out in the DBS 2024 Sustainability Report, we are the connectors that can bridge the gap between ambition and action to build a low-carbon future.
India has become a regional beacon for sustainability, and has demonstrated continued momentum with a credible, equitable approach based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as it meets the development needs of 17 per cent of the world’s population. Given that there are multiple priorities competing for attention along with India’s economic ambitions, the country’s focus on decarbonisation is even more commendable and presents many opportunities for public and private institutions to combine forces and help accelerate the transition. The choices we make today will determine the liveability of tomorrow. It’s time to double down, not step back.
As featured in ETBFSI
Asia’s Safest Bank, 2009 – 2024, Global Finance
Best Bank in the World 2022, Global Finance
World’s Best Bank 2021, Euromoney
India’s Best International Bank 2021, Asiamoney
World’s Best Banks - #1 in India 2021, Forbes
World’s Safest Commercial Bank 2021, Global Finance
