With increasing concern over climate change, many see green finance as a solution to fund sustainable projects. In particular, green bonds—a type of debt instrument which aims to finance sustainable infrastructure projects—are growing in popularity. While the literature does not contest their effectiveness in fighting climate change, research highlights the high level of risks and low returns associated with this instrument. This research investigates green bonds’ characteristics, depending on the issuing region, with a special focus on Asia and the Pacific. Our findings prove that green bonds in Asia tend to show higher returns but higher risks and higher heterogeneity. Generally, the Asian green bonds market is dominated by the banking sector, representing 60% of all issuance. Given that bonds issued by this sector tend to show lower returns than average, we recommend policies that could increase the rate of return of bonds issued by the banking sector through the use of tax spillover. Diversification of issuers, with higher participation from the public sector or de-risking policies, could also be considered.

In recent years, awareness about climate change and the need for cutting greenhouse gas has spread. Policymakers have hence chosen to promote the use of renewable energy, as well as encouraging improvements in energy efficiency (EE). This study analyzes the policy strategies of four Asian countries with large greenhouse gas emissions and EE strategies: the People’s Republic of China, India, Indonesia, and Japan. The study first reviewed the type of instruments that can be used to reduce energy intensity, namely incentivizing policies (subsidies, tax reductions, and voluntary agreements) and market-based instruments (white certificates and tendering schemes). Through a review of the literature, the study identified advantages and weaknesses, as well as the effectiveness of said policies in the case studies. Fiscal incentives such as tax cuts and market-based instruments are shown to be efficiently reducing energy intensity. The study also highlighted the role of voluntary agreements and careful planning in successfully improving EE in the People’s Republic of China. On the other hand, direct subsidies represented a heavy burden on the government’s budget, with limited results.

<jats:p>Hong Kong’s housing market witnessed a dramatic housing price appreciation in recent years, with the price index for private domestic housing units being three times higher than ten years ago. This trend is supported by both internal and external factors, as illustrated in this paper. By developing a theoretical model and an empirical analysis on the key variables influencing housing prices using monthly data from 1999 to 2018, we find that the main drivers of housing price appreciation are from the demand side and include income level, money supply and inflation. The main contribution of this study is the quantification of the role of Mainland China’s macroeconomic factors in housing price booms in Hong Kong. Our study shows that capital inflow from and inflation and recessions in Mainland China contribute to increasing housing prices in Hong Kong because the city’s real estate is seen as a way to preserve asset value. These findings call for the need for control of capital inflow between the two economies as well as for stricter regulations against empty houses in Hong Kong.</jats:p>

The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 drastically changed the energy consumption pattern of Japan. Not being able to rely on nuclear energy, the country turned to fossil fuels and attempted to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity generation mix. This paper will explore why geothermal energy is stagnating in Japan, despite the availability of resources and technologies. The paper first analyzes the various barriers to geothermal energy deployment in Japan from social, legal, economic, financial and technical viewpoints. The major contribution of this study is the quantification of the magnitude each barrier and supportive policy has on the development of geothermal power, with a special focus given to energy finance measures. The analysis is performed using a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) using data from 1974 to 2017 and identifies the existence of a long-term relationship between variables, public research and development expenditures and the Feed-in-Tariff scheme. The latter appears to be the most efficient stimuli to foster geothermal power generation. Subsidies in their current form, on the other hand, have mixed results both in the long and short term. Environmental concerns and social opposition appear to be among the major barriers in both the short and long term.