“Singapore banks move to end Southeast Asia’s coal addiction” – Nikkei Asian Review – May 8, 2019

On May 8, 2019 Nikkei Asian Review reported that ‘(a) push to end Southeast Asia’s addiction to fossil fuels is gathering pace after the region’s two biggest banks said they would stop funding coal-fired power plants.

Singapore’s DBS Group Holdings said last month that it would cease financing new coal power projects from 2021 following the completion of existing projects in Indonesia and Vietnam, and will instead tilt toward renewable energy projects such as solar power.

 Overseas-Chinese Banking Corp. has also announced that it would also quit coal, and United Overseas Bank, Singapore’s third largest bank, told Nikkei that it has not financed any new coal-fired power plant since January 2018 and it has no new deals in the pipeline.

The move is ‘a major game-changer for energy finance in the ASEAN region,’ said Julien Vincent, executive director at Australia-based environment advocacy group Market Forces.”

You may read the article on the Nikkei Asian Review internet site.