Asia’s at the centre of the climate tech revolution

Climate tech will be the catalyst for the next phase of the net zero transition. It’s not the only solution, but it’s a critical part of the solution – and Asia will be at the heart of this.

Asia is a major growth market for the development, scaling and globalisation of climate technologies.

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Julian Wentzel, Group Sustainability Officer, HSBC

We’ve seen strong innovation across the region, including from China, particularly in areas such as batteries and the supply chains that support solar and wind transmission.

Growing momentum

Across the region, there’s growing momentum behind building stronger innovation ecosystems, alongside faster adoption of proven and emerging solutions from other markets.

Asia-Pacific remains the largest region for energy transition investment, accounting for 47% of the global total in 2025¹.

Indeed, there was $20 billion in venture capital and private equity investment in Asia-Pacific climate tech between 2021 and 2024² and more is needed.

China alone accounts for more than 80% of global solar manufacturing capacity³. And we’re seeing an increase in exports of Chinese and, more broadly, Asia-Pacific climate technologies to the rest of the world.

In the first seven months of 2025, China exported around $120 billion of clean tech, with about half going to emerging markets. Exports to ASEAN were up 75% over the same period⁴.

Our role

At HSBC, we want to be the go-to bank for emerging climate tech, supporting technologies of the future and helping accelerate real-economy decarbonisation.

We provide growth capital to help climate tech companies scale, including solutions such as venture debt and working capital – and our role is much broader than that.

As an international bank with a global network across markets and sectors, we can help connect climate tech innovators with the large corporates who may become customers, strategic partners or investors, with the wider ecosystem that supports growth.

An example of this is our partnership with Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a programme that leverages private-public capital to accelerate the development of clean technologies. Starting the in the US, the programme has expanded into Asia and we have moved with it, supporting its portfolio companies in India and Singapore.

Backing innovation

Climate tech scaling requires a mindset that recognises the realities of emerging technologies, longer timelines, higher uncertainty, and the need for patient, well-structured financing.

Our approach is to understand these risk profiles, manage risk responsibly, and work closely with clients to increase their probability of success in scaling.

Ultimately, the opportunity starts with the innovators. Climate tech companies are building solutions to real-world decarbonisation challenges – our job is to help them scale, by providing the right financing at the right time, and by connecting them to the customers, partners and markets that can accelerate commercial adoption.