Singapore, 28 October 2026: ERIA took part in the Finance Spotlight at the Asia Clean Energy Summit (ACES) 2026, held as part of Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW). Mr Sho Hayashi, Senior Policy Fellow on Energy Transition and Finance at ERIA, introduced the AZEC Inclusive Transition Finance (AITF) Catalyst as a platform for assessing and supporting individual projects to facilitate the development of transition finance in Asia. He also moderated a panel discussion hosted by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

Mr Hayashi presented initial findings from the AITF Catalyst report, launched by ERIA, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and METI at the AZEC Ministerial Meeting in Manila earlier this month. He stressed that eligibility, feasibility, and bankability must all be in place for projects to attract capital, noting that discussions on eligibility often run ahead of the other two. He also outlined two complementary narratives, one focused on decarbonisation and the other on energy security and resilience. These, he said, reinforce rather than compete with each other.

Mr Hayashi also announced that the AITF Catalyst initiative will continue into 2027 to support new transition projects, with the call for projects remaining open until December 2026.

The presentation was followed by a panel discussion titled ‘Scaling Transition Finance in Asia: Advancing Decarbonisation and Energy Resilience’, moderated by Mr Hayashi and featuring panellists from International Energy Agency Regional Cooperation Centre in Singapore, DNV Sustainable Finance Services in Asia Pacific, Maybank, and the ASEAN Centre for Energy. The discussion highlighted the importance of decarbonisation alongside economic growth for Asian countries pursuing pragmatic energy transitions, while recent geopolitical disruptions have placed greater emphasis on energy security and resilience. Panellists also underscored the importance of financing hard-to-abate and high-emitting sectors, and discussed how scaling up transition finance could unlock more inclusive and climate-aligned capital flows across the region.