Green finance policies to accelerate the economic recovery in ASEAN countries

Abstract

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has shown remarkable progress in terms of economic growth over the last two decades. Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, governments of this region’s countries have changed the projected development path with immense focus on protecting lives and livelihood. This has resulted in concerns regarding the expected targets of the green transition. However, the economic recovery process can be augmented with green preferences with proper strategies, where a win-win outcome can be achieved. Therefore, the main aim of this chapter is to critically discuss the green augmented economic recovery through facilitating green finance for the ASEAN countries. We argue that green finance acceleration can be achieved by focusing on the ASEAN Three+1 aspects strategy, namely job creation, environment and climate resilience, catalytic capital, and institutional aspects. We further highlight that the institutional aspect in the proposed strategy works as the binding agent and should be given considerable focus. Finally, we recommend some policies to initiate the proposed plan for accelerating economic recovery.