The capital push, marking the fifth anniversary of BII’s regional headquarters in Singapore, aims to accelerate the energy transition in high-emitting, rapidly growing economies including Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand.

Vietnam’s financial sector is already benefiting from earlier BII commitments. The UK institution has previously extended green financing to major Vietnamese lenders, including VPBank and HDBank, to fund local climate-related projects, sustainable agriculture, and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Under the new funding umbrella, Vietnam remains a prime target as the nation seeks to shift away from heavy reliance on fossil fuels toward renewables.

Over the next five years, BII plans to provide roughly half of the $1.6 billion directly from its balance sheet, while leveraging private investors to mobilize the remainder. A significant portion of this capital will flow through British Climate Partners (BCP), a specialized climate finance platform launched by BII earlier this year to target carbon-intensive Asian economies.

“The climate crisis is a national security issue that demands urgent attention,” said UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband. “I am proud that BII is taking action to help countries across Southeast Asia build cleaner, more resilient economies. BII is central to the UK’s efforts to unlock much more private investment to deliver on our climate and development goals.”

The funding push targets critical green sectors, including renewable energy generation, power transmission, electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure, waste management, and water resilience. Across Southeast Asia, BII projects that the new investments will add an estimated 1.8 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy capacity and prevent nearly 1.7 million tons of carbon emissions.

To date, BII has committed nearly $400 million to climate initiatives in the region between 2023 and 2025, backing developers such as ib vogt, Skye Renewables, and Xurya, alongside funds including Pentagreen Capital’s Green Investment Partnership and Gresham House’s SUSI Asia Energy Transition Fund.

Its existing portfolio has supported over 358 megawatts (MW) of operational or installed clean energy, generated more than 556,000 megawatt-hours (MWh) of green electricity, and avoided approximately 368,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

“Our singular focus for the South-East Asia region is to fund climate finance projects that will contribute to the region’s clean and sustainable economic future,” said Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of BII, during the strategy launch in Singapore. “The global challenge of the climate emergency knows no borders.”