UK's development finance arm BII targets $1.6-billion climate funding for PH, ASEAN

British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution, on Monday committed to $1.6 billion in climate financing in Southeast Asian economies over the next five years, including the Philippines, to support the shift to renewable energy.

According to BII, about half of the investment will be made through its climate finance initiative launched earlier this year, British Climate Partners (BCP), with a similar amount expected to be mobilized from private investors.

“The capital will be used to support developing economies in South-East Asia, including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand, which rely on high-emitting fossil fuel power generation, to transit to a renewables-based future,” it said.

The BII committed nearly $400 million in climate finance in Southeast Asia between 2023 and 2025, including to renewable energy firm ib vogt in the Philippines, expected to deliver 400 gigawatt-hours of clean electricity annually.

“Our singular focus for the South-East Asia region is to fund climate finance projects that will contribute to the region’s clean and sustainable economic future,” BII chief executive officer Leslie Maasdorp said in an emailed statement.

“The global challenge of the climate emergency knows no borders. That’s why we are committed to powering economic growth in the region, while driving emissions down and delivering a return for the UK taxpayer,” he added.

BII managing director and Asia head Srini Nagarajan said in March that the Philippines remains an important market, adding that the intention to invest in the country is “actually quite high.”

“BII has established itself in South-East Asia as a provider of capital focused on accelerating the development of key climate finance projects in the region,” he said.

“The next five years will see us commit a significantly greater level of capital to widen the pipeline of climate finance opportunities and turbocharge the pace of the green transition,” he added.

To recall, in November 2022, the Department of Energy (DOE) amended the implementing rules and regulations of the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, allowing foreign investors to participate in the Philippine renewable energy sector. — BM, GMA News