“Beyond CCPT: A Banker’s Guide to ASEAN Sustainable Finance” Series 2/6
We’ve Been Speaking CCPT… So What’s Different About ASEAN Taxonomy?
In the previous post, I shared that something is shifting beyond CCPT. A question naturally follows:
“Is ASEAN Taxonomy just another version of CCPT?”
The short answer is - NO. But it’s also not completely separate. To understand this, it helps to step back and look at purpose. Start with what we already know: 🔴 CCPT - The Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy by Bank Negara Malaysia was designed with a very practical objective: 👉 To help financial institutions assess climate-related risk in financing decisions. It is: 💠 Principle-based 💠Grounded in real credit evaluation 💠Designed for day-to-day use by bankers For many of us, CCPT became a working tool, a way to ask better questions and understand where our clients stand.
Now, what is ASEAN Taxonomy trying to do? 🟢 The ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance serves a broader purpose. 👉 It aims to create a common reference point across countries Think of it as: 💠A regional guide, not just a banking tool 💠A framework to support cross-border capital flows 💠A way to bring more consistency in how sustainable activities are understood.
So what’s the real difference?
From a banker’s lens: 🔴 CCPT helps us decide - Is this borrower aligned? transitioning? high risk?) 🟢 ASEAN Taxonomy helps align markets - Are we assessing sustainability in a comparable way across countries?
Why this matters more than it seems...
In practice, this difference is important. Because increasingly: ✔️ Clients operate across ASEAN ✔️ Supply chains are regional ✔️ Funding sources are not limited to one country
Without some level of standardization, the same company could be viewed differently across markets. And that creates: ❌ Confusion for clients ❌ Inconsistency for banks ❌ Friction in decision-making
So where does that leave us?
This is not about choosing one over the other. It is about understanding how: 🔴 CCPT remains our starting point and how it may eventually connect to a broader regional framework. In the next post, I’ll go a level deeper into something often overlooked—but very important:
Not all “transitioning” companies are the same and ASEAN Taxonomy begins to recognize that nuance.
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