Emerging Market Leadership in Sustainability: What APAC Is Getting Right About Climate, Infrastructure, and Finance

Rethinking the Global Narrative of Sustainable Infrastructure

Emerging markets in Southeast Asia and beyond are becoming global leaders in sustainable infrastructure, climate finance, and inclusive climate action. The conversation often defaults to developed economies in Europe, North America, or Australasia. But the narrative is shifting. Across Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, emerging markets are not only embracing sustainability—they are redefining it.

At Nyawi Sustainability Consulting, our work across the Asia-Pacific region places us at the heart of this evolution. We’ve observed first-hand how emerging markets are developing context-specific solutions, leapfrogging outdated sustainable infrastructure models, and pioneering approaches that blend economic development with climate ambition.

1. Climate Policy Innovation in Emerging Markets

Emerging markets, particularly sustainable infrastructure in APAC, face acute environmental and social risks. In response, governments and multilateral institutions are crafting policies that embed sustainability at the core of development planning as emerging economies modernise.

• In the Philippines, the Build Better More program integrates climate resilience into public infrastructure planning. 

• Indonesia’s Low Carbon Development Initiative aligns long-term national growth with emissions reductions.

• Vietnam’s Green Growth Strategy includes specific targets for energy efficiency and circular economy adoption.

• The ASEAN Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance offers a regionally relevant framework for classifying green investments.

As the World Resources Institute notes, many developing countries are demonstrating greater climate ambition than their wealthier counterparts. The report shows that the transition is essential for developing and developed countries, but that developing countries will require significant financial investments, technology transfer, and capacity building to drive climate action.

These policy innovations are not just reactionary—they are forward-facing. They enable countries to secure international funding (particularly “green”, “climate” and “environment” funding), attract private investment, and embed resilience into critical infrastructure from day one.

2. Sustainable Infrastructure in APAC Without the Legacy Burden

Emerging markets often face a dual reality. On one hand, many urban areas—such as Metro Manila—are already contending with sprawling development, car dependency, and entrenched fossil fuel systems. These can present real and significant challenges to decarbonisation, particularly in rapidly growing cities.

On the other hand, many regions within these countries are still building out new infrastructure—schools, hospitals, transit, water and energy systems—creating an opportunity to get things right from the outset. Compared to heavily industrialised nations where infrastructure is deeply embedded and difficult to replace, emerging markets are often more agile. They may not be free of legacy constraints, but they are less tied to them.

This opens the door to cleaner technology integration, context-driven planning, and systems designed with decarbonisation and climate resilience in mind.

• Vietnam more than quadrupled its installed solar capacity in 2020, spurred by government incentives and community demand.

• In metro Manila, transit-oriented development (TOD) is being embedded into the planning of new railway lines like the North-South Commuter Railway.

• Kuala Lumpur’s TOD and green building policies are shifting the urban development paradigm.

• Cities like Medellín, Colombia have received global recognition for urban cable cars and public space regeneration in low-income neighbourhoods.

These examples demonstrate that sustainability is not a luxury add-on—it’s a development strategy. Emerging markets are showing that infrastructure can be climate-smart, socially inclusive, and cost-effective when sustainability is considered from the ground up.

3. Community-Driven Climate Action in APAC

Across the region, sustainability efforts are being shaped by communities, not just corporations. These models are often more inclusive, resilient, and better attuned to local needs because they are built on community knowledge, shaped by place-based priorities, and sustained through direct participation. Unlike top-down approaches that can be rigid, expensive, and misaligned with local realities, community-led models are agile and adaptable. They harness local networks, foster ownership, and ensure that solutions reflect the social and environmental context they’re meant to serve—leading to longer-term impact and uptake.

• In rural Indonesia, decentralised renewable energy systems—like micro-hydro and solar PV—are co-managed by local cooperatives.

• Pacific Island nations such as Fiji and Vanuatu are developing locally led climate adaptation frameworks tailored to traditional governance systems.

• Community forestry in Nepal and agroecology initiatives in the Philippines and Laos are enabling land stewardship that improves both livelihoods and biodiversity.

The UNDP Human Development Report recognises these models as crucial to inclusive climate action. These bottom-up strategies reflect the true meaning of sustainability: empowering people to lead the change they want to see.

4. Climate Finance Leadership in Emerging Markets

While global capital flows are still disproportionately directed toward developed markets, emerging economies are finding ways to mobilise finance for sustainability.

• Thailand issued one of Southeast Asia’s first sustainability-linked bonds, tied to specific ESG performance indicators.

• Malaysia has established the world’s first Shariah-compliant green bond framework.

• Blended finance models supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are enabling risk-sharing on solar, water and urban resilience projects.

• Local banks in the Philippines and Indonesia are adopting ESG lending guidelines with support from international donors.

According to McKinsey & Company, Asia alone will require US$1.3 trillion annually in green investments to meet net-zero goals. Emerging markets are developing the tools to unlock this capital—and applying it to projects that align with local climate, social and economic priorities.

Leading on Their Own Terms

Emerging markets are not just participants in the global sustainability conversation—they are shaping it. Their leadership is defined not by headlines or global rankings, but by grounded pragmatism, policy innovation, and community-powered change.

At Nyawi, we believe there is much the global community can learn from these approaches. Emerging markets are showing that sustainability is not something to be retrofitted—it’s something to be designed in from the start. Read more about our approach to sustainable infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific.

Ready to collaborate on climate-smart infrastructure in Asia-Pacific?

 Let’s build resilient, inclusive systems together. Contact Us.

Because the next wave of sustainability leadership isn’t coming from where it used to. It’s being redefined from the ground up.