Southeast Asia needs $2 trillion worth of investments over the next decade to build sustainable infrastructure that can help cut down the region’s greenhouse gas emissions, a new report from Bain & Company, Microsoft and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings showed.

That includes investments into areas like renewable energy, electric vehicles and waste management, said the report titled “Southeast Asia’s Green Economy: Opportunities on the Road to Net Zero.”

The report shows that investors invested only around $9 billion last year into green businesses, assets and ventures. According to the report, Southeast Asia must unite its public, private, and philanthropic sectors to reach the $2 trillion mark.

Southeast Asia is facing serious climate change concerns due to its high number of extreme weather and natural disasters.

According to Dale Hardcastle (co-director of Bain’s global sustainability innovation centre), while fighting Covid-19 remains a priority for many countries, there was much attention paid to Southeast Asia’s climate issues and the thinking around what makes a green economy.

“We’ve seen multiple green plans launched in Singapore and other countries,” Hardcastle said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Street Signs Asia” as part of the climate conference Ecosperity.

He said, “We are beginning to notice more governments trying to look at crossregional collaboration,” whether it be on new measures about looking at green finance and energy transition.

The United Nations describes a so-called green economy as one where growth is driven by investments into economic activities, infrastructure and assets that allow reduced carbon emissions and pollution. A green economy also has enhanced energy and resource efficiency, and prevents the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems.

The report found that about 90% of Southeast Asia’s carbon emissions can be addressed by transitioning away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources like wind and solar, valuing nature and making the region’s agricultural production of food more efficient.

According to the report, agriculture contributes a lot to Southeast Asia’s economies, but it also produces a large amount of carbon dioxide. To reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, countries must reach out to small farmers to encourage them to use more sustainable farming methods.

The report stated that if countries act now, by 2030, the region’s green economic potential could generate around $1 trillion in new opportunities for the economy and provide 5 to 6 million jobs.

Hardcastle stated to CNBC that many Southeast Asia’s conglomerates and large companies have started to look at sustainability, even though they are slower than their European and U.S counterparts.

“They are beginning to think critically about how do they start to invest in the green economy — whether it is out of self interest to protect the businesses that they have or taking more concerted actions towards climate change, it is great to see that things are beginning to move,” he said.