Innovations in Vietnam, the 2024 Southeast Asia Green Economy Report and a special interview with Carol Tan, Asia Philanthropy Circle
Carbonless Asia
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April has been an exciting month for the Carbonless community. This month, we welcomed over 100 guests from around the world in Singapore at the second Green Economy Salon during Ecosperity Week.
We also had dozens of deep conversations about crowding in more capital to decarbonise Asia. The one with Carol Tan from Asia Philanthropy Circle ended up standing out discussing how philanthropy can be an instrument to accelerate climate action globally. We decided to turn it into an interview to share some of the insights with you here.
We hope you enjoy this month’s read as much as we did writing it. As always, we bring news surrounding decarbonisation in the region, focused on the three pillars of Innovation, Investment, Opportunity. We invite you to leave a comment or reach out to us on LinkedIn to share a piece of news you would like to see covered, your feedback, or themes you'd like to explore in future editions of this newsletter. Your ideas and insights are invaluable to us—share your thoughts here . If you're a writer with a compelling story to share, please tell us about it here .
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Carbonless Interview: Carol Tan, Asia Philanthropy Circle
The role of philanthropy in catalysing climate action
This month, Carbonless Advisor Alexandra Tracy speaks to Carol Tan , Deputy CEO of Asia Philanthropy Circle (APC) - a community based on shared passion for social impact that gives in financial and intellectual capital.
How did the Asia Philanthropy Circle come together? What was the gap - or need - that the founders wanted to address?
"APC was founded in 2015 by philanthropists to create a safe space for principals to learn, exchange, and inspire each other toward strategic, collaborative philanthropy. We started with 3 philanthropists and have since grown to over 60 individuals and families. In climate, similarly, we focused on community because we believe trust is a critical path to meaningful collaboration and impact on complex societal issues. Our work in Climate started in 2021 with inviting a committed group of APC Members to learn and journey together through the Climate Collective."
Is Asian philanthropy different from Western philanthropy? What are the roles of government and corporations, versus wealthy individuals and families?
"Asian philanthropy is different only insofar as the context is different – one’s not better than the other, only that the environments may require different roles of philanthropy. Some of the defining characteristics of philanthropy in Asia include a tendency toward superordinate goals, preference for local causes due to basic needs that are still unmet in our populous region, and often ambivalent relationships with government. A lot of giving also happens on the corporate front, as family business and philanthropy are less distinct from each other than in the western world. That said, there are lots of similarities, and the drive for impact and to make a difference on people’s lives and on systemic issues can unify both sides."
How can philanthropic donors work most successfully with the private sector to scale up investment in social and environmental projects ?
"I think we need to understand each other’s interests, ways of working and genuine constraints. Philanthropy seldom likes subsidizing a private company’s financial returns - the case for public good must be very compelling, and there’s a higher bar when it appears there may be ‘leakage’ to those who least need it. And companies often find small scale projects more effort than they are worth - philanthropy needs to be able to support projects further up the scale journey than they’re typically willing to in order to have more willing public and private partners working on the issue and scaling solutions together."
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Turning to climate specifically, how does APC go about identifying focus areas for climate action in Asia ? Tell us about one or two of your projects.
"Our Climate Collective is a community which began a journey of learning two years ago. They have worked together to co-fund several projects including in smart rice cultivation, energy transition and research to support a roadmap for drawing down carbon Southeast Asia – when that’s ready it would be the first report of its kind in our part of the world.
Building on this foundation, the next phase of APC’s work in climate aims to further catalyse philanthropic collaborations in climate, and to also raise awareness and interest in climate amongst more Asia-focused philanthropists. We are looking at how philanthropy may support greater impact in nature-based solutions -- particularly in food and agriculture, oceans communities, and building resilient communities. These focus areas are a confluence of the most pressing societal needs based on where the greatest mitigation potential is, anticipated effects on people, and where Asia philanthropists see there is an opportunity now to make a meaningful difference with their limited resources."
Less than 2% of global philanthropy goes towards addressing climate change, with even less going to Asia. How can we change this?
"It is really important that we seek to grow philanthropy, not necessarily to reallocate it away from existing needs, of which there are many. That’s why it is so important to grow the giving pie and to encourage more individuals, families and companies to give earlier and give more - by making it more frictionless. Certainly, with existing funds we could strive to be more impactful by coordinating better with one another and adopting funding best practices to maximise impact and reduce burden on nonprofits and beneficiaries. We also could be smarter on where the philanthropic community jointly supports based on the best use of philanthropy dollars - and that’s where issues are usually overlooked but are reaching tipping points based on political, social, economic and public sentiment factors. "
Asian emerging markets face complex challenges and competing priorities: poverty alleviation, access to energy, climate action. How would you think about balancing these issues?
"One cannot be achieved without the others in the long term. The trade-offs are only in the short term. That said, a reframing of the choice set - to look at what we need to do to build resilient societies overall and identifying the biggest risk factors that prevent resilience--could help with case-by-case prioritisation of issues depending on each context. There are various resilience assessment and measurement tools that could help policymakers with that."
Asia is especially exposed to the long term impacts of climate change, especially in its coastal areas. How can philanthropy do more to support policy on climate adaptation in the region?
"Lots! And several of the following we believe could make some of the most difference.
First, building capacity within governments to understand the risks and likely inevitable effects of climate change. A stronger narrative of building community and societal resilience, could help governments reframe the investments needed now as for the purpose of building the resilience of society – calculated by avoided loss and co-benefits.
Similarly, building capacity of individuals and businesses to respond. The scale of the adaptation problem is so great that it will be beyond the direct dollars of governments too unless something significant changes in the development finance market; so private citizens and businesses need also take action to protect themselves – and this will also require narrative building, education and awareness etc. This is about building local capacity to address unique shocks and stresses that each community faces.
So let’s put climate data in the hands of those who can respond to them. That’s what a few of our APC member's projects do, and what the support for research on the food and agriculture sector to create a roadmap for Southeast Asia also seeks to do.
Finally, support exploratory efforts to develop more financing models for adaptation so private markets can do what they do best when they have a financial incentive. And many more."
Carbonless Research
Looking for high-quality data and analysis of the trends and drivers underpinning decarbonisation in Asia? Eager to better understand under-researched technologies, markets and geographies? Looking for answers to the questions that restrict capital flows and technology deployment, especially in emerging markets?
Carbonless Research addresses these information gaps by creating customised research projects for policymakers, investors, corporations and more. We develop analysis, tools, market scoping and policy briefings, incorporating unique insights from our work on decarbonisation across the Carbonless platform. Contact us to learn more: hello@carbonless.xyz or alexandra@carbonless.xyz .
Do you have an insight to share? Send us a message on LinkedIn and we will include it in our next newsletter!