The World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) and OCBC have released a pioneering report, “Unlocking Capital: Aligning Asia Pacific’s Green Building Rating Tools to the ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance,” which analyses the alignment of green building certification systems with sustainable finance principles and the ASEAN Taxonomy’s environmental objectives. This comprehensive report, launched on 9 September 2025, offers a detailed credit-by-credit analysis of 32 rating tools across 16 schemes, covering the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
Developed by WorldGBC’s Asia Pacific Regional Network and OCBC, the report addresses the gap between technical building performance and investor expectations. Cristina Gamboa, CEO of WorldGBC, emphasised the importance of aligning green buildings with sustainable finance to accelerate the necessary transition. Mike Ng, Group Chief Sustainability Officer at OCBC, highlighted the collaboration’s role in bridging knowledge gaps and fostering alignment between green building rating tools and sustainable financing principles.
Key findings indicate strong alignment of rating tools with climate mitigation objectives, particularly regarding energy performance. However, gaps remain in areas such as climate adaptation and circular economy, which are being addressed as rating tools update their criteria. Notably, Australia’s Green Star Buildings and Singapore’s Green Mark 2021 schemes demonstrated the strongest alignment with the ASEAN Taxonomy.
The report calls for enhanced transparency, integration of adaptation and resilience criteria, and the development of clear performance roadmaps aligned with national climate goals. This initiative aims to empower stakeholders to make informed, climate-aligned investment decisions, thereby scaling impact across the Asia Pacific region.
“`
