Key Takeaways
- Global 2026 issuance: The sustainable bond market will reach $1.62 trillion, according to estimates from ING.
- Regional driver: Asia-Pacific generated $274 billion in sustainable debt during the first seven months of 2025, with S&P Global forecasting between $170 billion and $200 billion in new issuance for 2026.
- Real capital: Energy transition investment in the region (excluding China) grew 23% in 2025, backed by bank commitments such as the $73 billion pledge announced by Maybank for ASEAN.
Bangkok. The Expansion of Green Debt
Asia's sustainable finance market closed the first seven months of 2025 with $274 billion in debt issuance, a volume that offsets the slowdown recorded in the United States and Europe. For 2026, S&P Global estimates new sustainable bond issuance in the Asia-Pacific region will fall between $170 billion and $200 billion. The projection rests on a precise technical factor: the maturing, over the current two-year window, of a large volume of bonds issued between 2020 and 2021, which opens a natural channel for refinancing and new issuance.
Transition Finance Takes Shape
Carbon-intensive sectors now have a dedicated instrument in transition finance, designed to fund decarbonization pathways without requiring immediate sustainability compliance. In 2025, the Loan Market Association and the International Capital Market Association published international guidelines setting operational criteria for structuring these instruments. Chaoni Huang, of HSBC, describes a market entering a maturation phase, with Asian banks, investors, and regulators now consistently active on the capital supply side.
Bank Commitments
Maybank has set a target of mobilizing $73 billion in sustainable finance across ASEAN between 2026 and 2030, a goal on track after significantly surpassing results from the previous five-year period. In Indonesia, Cathay United Bank became the first Taiwanese bank to join the Green Investments Partnership, a blended finance initiative that has raised $510 million toward an $800 million target, earmarked for green infrastructure across South and Southeast Asia. The institution was named "Best ESG Bank" in the region by The Asset.
The Real Economy of Transition
Energy transition investment in Asia-Pacific markets, excluding mainland China, grew 23% in 2025, nearly triple the 8% global average. A joint report by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered estimates that Southeast Asia could mobilize between $80 billion and $395 billion in capital across the energy, grid, and electric vehicle sectors between 2026 and 2030. Regional regulators are meanwhile expanding their frameworks to integrate financial stability with sustainability criteria, a process that will shape the pace of upcoming transition bond issuance.
