In a recent interview with Regulation Asia, Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman of the Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI), highlighted that the global transition to sustainability requires the active participation of emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs). However, he noted that a critical bottleneck — “limited capacity” — is preventing these regions from scaling up sustainable finance.
While there have been successes in shaping global frameworks, and outliers like China have accumulated approximately USD 7 trillion in outstanding green loans and bonds, many EMDEs remain minimally involved in sustainable finance transactions. To bridge this gap, CASI aims to deliver targeted knowledge resources and training to EMDEs.
To effectively unlock this potential, Dr. Ma Jun has outlined a comprehensive strategy:
- Supporting Regulators and Policymakers. The first level emphasizes the foundational need for green taxonomies to define sustainable activities. Currently, 140 countries lack a taxonomy, which prevents the genuine growth of a green finance market, product labelling, and the allocation of government incentives. CASI assists countries with taxonomy development and stresses the importance of implementation, such as mandating banks to report green loans against the taxonomy to create market pressure.
- Equipping Financiers. The second level focuses on the financial system, including asset managers and banks. CASI helps financial institutions structure and create green products, such as ESG investment funds, green bonds, and green loans. Because EMDEs rely more heavily on bank lending than capital markets, CASI’s training emphasizes greening bank portfolios, reporting environmental impacts, and designing products with built-in incentives like sustainability-linked loans.
- Improving Project Bankability. The final and most significant bottleneck lies at the project level. In emerging markets, 90 percent of green projects presented to banks are not financially viable due to lacking the right technology, management, or supply agreements. CASI is developing knowledge tracks focused on enhancing “bankability” for project owners by promoting context-appropriate technologies and leveraging carbon credits as a primary revenue stream.
Delivering Knowledge Through the CASI Academy – to deliver this multi-level training globally, CASI relies on its online learning platform, the CASI Academy. The platform currently features over 50 modules and plans to expand to over 100 in the coming years by utilizing AI avatars to deliver expert content at a low cost. Over 2,000 learners and several multinational banks are already using the platform to efficiently train staff across their emerging market operations.
As Dr. Ma Jun stated, “adaptive capacity building services will emerge as the most critical enabler of progress”. We invite all our members and partners to collaborate with us in empowering EMDE markets.
For more details please visit Regulation Asia: https://www.regulationasia.com/articles/ma-jun-s-three-level-plan-to-unlock-emde-green-finance-potential