As such, Menon is calling for philanthropy to step up and play a larger role in driving climate action in Asia. “A partnership across public, private and philanthropic capital and philanthropic capital can help effectively flood the gaps in Asia's climate finance," he stresses.
Asia remains severely underfunded in the fight against climate change, says Ravi Menon, the former managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and current Ambassador for Climate Action.
Speaking at the Philanthropy Asia Summit on May 5, Menon, who is also senior adviser at the National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS), notes that the region's funding gap for climate mitigation and adaptation stands at over US$800 billion ($1.04 trillion) annually. This is largely due to insufficient public capital and private investors not committing in a big way, as the returns are insufficient to justify the risks, he adds.
