Australian High Commission reception keynote
The Hon. Matt Kean
Chair - Climate Change Authority
Check against delivery.
Good evening to the High Commissioner, Robyn Mudie. Thank you for hosting us so warmly, and so soon after taking up this vital role. To Rachel Kyte, the UK's Special Representative on Climate, and to all our friends old and new - it's a real pleasure to be back in this beautiful city for Ecosperity 2026.
The ties between Australia and Singapore - and with the region more broadly - are uncommonly close, and getting closer. Australia was the first dialogue partner of ASEAN back in 1974, and we've had a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership since last year. But grand titles don't do justice to the enduring warmth between our nations. The truth is simpler: we are neighbours, we are partners, and we are in this together.
The scale of the opportunity
Let me be direct about what we're dealing with.
The region is one of the world's fastest-growing economies. But it also faces an enormous investment task.
Australian government analysis estimates the region needs around AUD3 trillion in infrastructure investment - and a similar scale again for the green transition. Bloomberg projects 9 gigawatts of new solar capacity to be added across Southeast Asia this year alone - two-thirds more than in 2025. Over the coming decade, cumulative solar deployment is expected to reach 133 gigawatts, requiring around AUD123 billion in investment. And that's before you count the batteries.
The capital exists. The question is whether we can get it to flow in the right direction, at the right speed.
The challenge of mobilising private capital
Public budgets - even generous ones - will never close a gap of this scale alone. We need private capital. And the honest truth is that for too long, we've talked about mobilising private capital without doing the hard structural work to make it happen.
Blended finance has been around for decades. And yet volumes remain stubbornly small relative to the need. Why? Because risk is real. Regulatory environments can be uncertain. Currency exposure is significant. And for too many private investors, the returns still don't justify the complexity.
If we want to change that, we need to be more honest about what it takes - and more willing to put public capital to work in ways that genuinely move the needle.
What Australia brings
The Australian Government has been doing some serious thinking, and some serious doing.
Through DFAT, through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and through our engagement in multilateral forums, we've been building the architecture that makes Australian capital and Australian expertise available to the region. Our Green Economy Agreement with Singapore, signed in 2022, explores opportunities across 7 areas - from trade and investment to green and transition finance. That's now part of a wider strategic partnership.
We're leading the COP31 negotiations in Türkiye later this year. Targeted decarbonisation deals - focusing on key industries and supply chains - are expected to feature prominently, and more are in the works beyond those already signed.
And we're not just talking about finance flows - we're talking about a genuine partnership built on shared knowledge. When our CSIRO works with Malaysian partners on battery performance in tropical heat and humidity, we're learning things that matter for our own north as much as for the region. About 40% of Australia's landmass lies in the tropics. We have more tropical land than any country except Brazil, the DRC, and Indonesia. This region's challenges are our challenges, too.
A practical ask for this room
Which brings me to you.
The reason evenings like this matter isn't the speeches - it's the conversations that follow. The introductions that become partnerships. The deal that gets done because 2 people who needed to meet, finally did.
So let me make a practical ask, depending on where you sit.
If you are on the public side - in development finance, government, or a multilateral institution - I want to ask you to think about how you use your balance sheet more boldly. Concessional capital is most powerful when it attracts others, not crowds them out. The question isn't "what is the minimum we need to put in?" - it's "what structure makes this compelling for private capital?"
If you are on the private side - in fund management, institutional investment, or corporate treasury - I want to ask you to be genuinely honest about what you need to move. Not as a negotiating position, but as a design brief. We cannot build instruments that work if we don't know what the real barriers are.
And if you are on the philanthropic side - in foundations, family offices, or impact-first vehicles - I want to ask you to think about your role as first-loss capital. The most powerful thing philanthropy can do right now is not fund the solution directly, but take the first tranche of risk that makes the commercial solution possible.
That is the architecture of blended finance when it works. And it works.
The urgency
I want to say something plainly about timing.
Yes, the conflict in the Middle East has created real turbulence. Vietnam sourced 95% of its crude oil from the Persian Gulf before this latest outbreak of hostilities. The Philippines, 88%. Short-term investment in fossil fuel security is a reality we have to acknowledge.
But here's what else is true: Vietnam has been Southeast Asia's biggest EV market for 2 years running. The Philippines has led the region in renewable energy investment since 2022. The longer oil prices stay elevated, the smaller the premium for clean alternatives - and the more compelling the investment case becomes.
The conflict hasn't weakened the case for the transition. It has strengthened it, and added urgency.
We are 4 years out from 2030 - the deadline the world has set itself for bending the emissions curve. The investments that will determine whether we hit that target are not being made in 2030. They are being made now. This year. This week.
The deals we don't do, the structures we don't build, the partnerships we don't form this year - those are not deferrals. They are emissions that will enter the atmosphere regardless of what we promise later.
Closing
Australia is a serious partner for this region. We bring capital, we bring credibility, and we bring a genuine commitment to Southeast Asia's future - not as a donor, but as a partner.
With at least AUD225 billion in bilateral investment flows between Singapore and Australia alone, we know each other's legal and regulatory landscapes well. That creates real scope to combine public, private, and philanthropic capital across a range of asset classes - not just in our own markets, but in those of our neighbours.
In conclusion - if I may lean into a little local colour - don't be afraid to be a little kiasu tonight. The opportunities are real, they are urgent, and the future, I am genuinely confident, can be really shiok.
Make the most of the next 2 hours. Thank you.
