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In 2023, 234 new species of vascular plants and vertebrate animals were discovered in the Greater Mekong region, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. These discoveries, which bring the total since 1997 to 3,624, underscore the region's status as a biodiversity hotspot and the critical role of natural history museums and citizen science in taxonomic research. However, many of these species, such as the critically endangered Truongsonia lecongkietii palm and the Chiloschista quangdangii orchid, face immediate threats from habitat destruction, illegal trade, and climate change.

The Mekong River basin is the world's most productive inland fishery and the third most species-rich river for fish, hosting 1,148 recognized species. However, nearly 20% of these species are threatened with extinction due to hydropower dams, habitat loss, sand mining, pollution, and climate change. The report highlights the critical role of fish in regional food security—providing over half of the animal protein for many Lower Mekong populations—and their economic value in aquaculture, the aquarium trade, and potential eco-tourism. To reverse these declines, the document proposes a six-pillar Emergency Recovery Plan focusing on natural river flow, water quality, habitat restoration, sustainable resource management, control of invasive species, and the removal of obsolete barriers.

The Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP) is a regional initiative managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to strengthen the climate resilience of approximately 3.2 million poor and vulnerable people in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu. The program is structured into two components: a Trust Fund (TF) for upstream capacity building and knowledge generation, and an Investment Fund (IF) for downstream implementation of adaptation measures. The IF focuses on three primary outputs: improving climate risk information systems, implementing climate-resilient pro-poor livelihoods, and constructing pro-poor climate adaptation infrastructure. The program emphasizes transformational adaptation, gender equality, and the use of nature-based solutions to address the disproportionate impacts of climate change on marginalized populations.

ASEAN's solar and wind generation grew by 43% annually between 2015 and 2022, largely driven by Viet Nam's Feed-in Tariff policies. However, growth slowed in 2022, and the region currently utilizes less than 1% of its theoretical solar and wind potential. To meet the IEA's 2050 net zero scenario, ASEAN must reach a 23% share of solar and wind in total electricity generation by 2030, requiring the addition of 164 GW of solar and 65 GW of wind capacity. The report argues that achieving this requires removing regulatory barriers like local content requirements, investing in grid modernization and storage, and implementing attractive pricing mechanisms.

The document highlights a critical lack of tracked financing for oil and gas methane abatement in Southeast Asia, despite the sector being the region's second-largest methane contributor. It identifies key barriers such as limited technical capacity, data gaps, and underdeveloped regulations. The brief argues that methane abatement offers a low-cost, quick-win opportunity for near-term climate mitigation and suggests that state-owned enterprises and international financial institutions play pivotal roles in scaling these efforts.

The report argues that nature-based solutions (NBS) and carbon offset schemes often serve as 'escapes' for major polluters to continue emitting greenhouse gases while facilitating land grabbing and violating human rights. It provides numerous case studies across Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas, highlighting systemic issues such as inflated carbon baselines, lack of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), and the failure of projects to deliver promised carbon reductions or community benefits. Specific examples include REDD+ projects in Gabon and Zimbabwe, soil carbon initiatives in Kenya and the US, and cookstove offsets in India.

The Community Resilience Partnership Program (CRPP), managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), aims to strengthen the climate resilience of approximately 3.2 million poor and vulnerable people in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu. The program is structured into two interlinked components: a Trust Fund (TF) for upstream capacity building and knowledge research, and an Investment Fund (IF) for downstream implementation of adaptation measures. The GCF is requested to provide USD 120 million (USD 100 million in grants and USD 20 million in loans) to co-finance the Investment Fund, leveraging an additional USD 555 million from ADB and USD 75 million from bilateral donors. Key interventions include improving climate information services, implementing resilient pro-poor livelihoods, and constructing adaptive infrastructure such as ecosystem-based defenses and multipurpose emergency shelters. A central pillar of the program is a dedicated Gender Window within the Trust Fund to address structural inequalities and empower women in resilience-related decision-making.

The report argues that the IFC continues to support coal development in Asia by investing in financial intermediaries, most notably the Postal Savings Bank of China. This mechanism allows the IFC to bypass its public commitments to halt coal financing, resulting in indirect support for 68.3 GW of coal-fired power capacity across China, Indonesia, and Cambodia. The document highlights the Jambi 2 project in Indonesia as a primary example of this 'loophole,' detailing the environmental and health impacts of coal mining and power generation on local communities in Jambi province.

The report estimates the total quantifiable economic use value of water and freshwater ecosystems at US$58 trillion in 2021, representing 60% of global GDP. It argues that the world suffers from 'water blindness,' where direct use values (US$7.5 trillion) are prioritized over far more valuable indirect ecosystem services (US$50 trillion), such as water purification, flood regulation, and carbon sequestration. This undervaluation leads to overextraction, pollution, and habitat loss, with one-third of wetlands lost since 1970 and freshwater species populations declining by 83% on average. The document calls for a shift toward Nature-based Solutions, the implementation of the 'Freshwater Challenge' to restore 30% of degraded rivers and wetlands by 2030, and a fundamental change in how governments, businesses, and financial institutions value and manage water resources to build climate resilience.

The report outlines the environmental and social safeguards (ESS) for the Community Resilience Partnership Program, managed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). It specifies that the program is classified as Category I-2 and identifies the disclosure of the Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS) and the Indigenous Peoples Planning Framework in multiple languages and physical locations across Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Vanuatu.

Carbon Market Watch has filed a formal complaint with Verra based on research from the University of California (Berkeley) that identifies 'major deficiencies in project integrity and rigour' across several REDD+ projects. The document alleges that Verra and its validation/verification bodies (VVBs) failed to uphold standards, resulting in the issuance of carbon credits that are not 'environmentally sound'. Key failures cited include non-conservative forest carbon accounting, lack of transparency in allometric equations, inadequate community consultation, and the underestimation of natural reversal risks. The complainant calls for an internal investigation, a halt on credit issuance for the affected projects, and the cancellation of wrongfully issued credits.

China's solar panel exports grew by 34% in the first half of 2023, reaching 114 GW. While manufacturing capacity is sufficient to meet 1.5C pathway goals, bottlenecks in installation and grid integration are leading to increased stockpiles, particularly in Europe.

The report details a scenario exercise where experts simulated the collapse of ecosystems in a fictional Southeast Asian state to explore the resulting security risks. The exercise demonstrated a feedback loop where ecological failure—specifically the collapse of fisheries and agriculture—triggered food insecurity, mass migration, and internal conflict. This instability led to a political shift from a semi-democratic system to an authoritarian state, as ruling elites prioritized self-preservation and stability over ecological restoration. The findings suggest that preventing ecological disruption is significantly more effective than attempting restoration during a security crisis, and the report recommends integrating ecological security into global security frameworks and investing in early governance stability.

The Southeast Asia Regional Resilience Dialogue emphasizes the need for a 'whole of society approach' to climate risk, advocating for the recognition of local communities and grassroots organizations as agents of change. The document highlights successful community-led initiatives in Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Thailand, while identifying systemic barriers such as restricted financial flows to the local level and a lack of recognition for the root causes of vulnerability. It recommends diversifying financing instruments, supporting decentralization policies, and creating more direct engagement mechanisms between grassroots actors and decision-makers to ensure inclusive and resilient recovery from COVID-19 and the achievement of sustainable development goals.

The report details a scenario exercise involving a fictional Southeast Asian state, Khomland, to explore the security implications of ecological collapse. The simulation demonstrates a feedback loop where ecosystem degradation—specifically the collapse of fisheries and agriculture—drives food insecurity and mass migration, which in turn fuels political conflict and the consolidation of authoritarian power. Key findings highlight that restoration is significantly more difficult than prevention and that political elites often weaponize crisis management to maintain power. The document concludes with recommendations for international and regional bodies to prioritize ecological security, invest in governance stability, and deploy nature-based solutions to build societal resilience.

A review of 41 multisector NAP documents reveals that transboundary climate risks are sporadically mentioned and lack a systematic approach, with most references limited to shared ecosystems like river basins. The document argues that the dominance of place-based adaptation and state sovereignty norms hinder the integration of cross-border risks, and recommends leveraging intergovernmental organizations and territorial framing to improve regional collaboration.

The document examines the necessity of aligning national financing strategies for climate adaptation with other financial frameworks, such as NDCs, SDGs, and national development plans. It highlights that fragmentation caused by ministerial silos or varying partner influences can lead to duplicated efforts. By integrating adaptation finance into the broader economic decision-making process, countries can better identify cross-ministerial synergies, improve the evidence base for investment, and ensure that adaptation actions are resilient to macroeconomic pressures like sovereign debt. The briefing provides lessons on engaging finance and planning ministries to move from a project-based approach to a systemic portfolio approach to adaptation investment.

The report outlines a framework for developing countries to bridge the adaptation finance gap through seven guiding principles. These are divided into process-related principles—emphasizing country-driven approaches, the engagement of finance ministries, and inclusivity—and content-related principles, which focus on the strategic use of diverse financial instruments, alignment with national development goals, improving the enabling environment, and establishing monitoring and evaluation processes. The report supports these principles with case studies from Kenya, Nepal, and Peru, highlighting that a financing strategy is a continuous process rather than a single document.

Bangladesh has significantly increased its reliance on imported LNG to meet rising electricity demand as domestic gas reserves decline, but this has left the country vulnerable to global price volatility and supply shocks. This reliance has led to widespread power cuts, industrial losses, and increased electricity costs, while renewable energy growth has stagnated, accounting for only 2% of electricity generation by 2022. The report warns that continued investment in gas infrastructure risks creating stranded assets and exacerbating climate change, to which Bangladesh is highly vulnerable. Specifically, heat stress is projected to cause significant GDP losses and labour productivity declines by 2030. The document argues that scaling up solar and wind power is a cheaper, more reliable alternative that would reduce financial risk and climate vulnerability.

The ASEAN sustainable finance market contracted by 32% in 2022 to USD 36bn due to rising inflation and interest rates, though volumes remained double those of 2020. Singapore continues to lead the region, accounting for 60% of 2022 issuance. While green bonds and loans showed the most resilience, sustainability-linked bonds (SLBs) saw a nearly 90% plunge. Sovereign issuance remained robust, with Singapore and the Philippines entering as new sovereign issuers. The report highlights a shift toward local currency denomination in green debt and a critical need for mandatory, science-based corporate transition plans to avoid greenwashing and support hard-to-abate sectors.