Three Wise Women
TRINA LIANG-LIN
President of Women in Sustainability and Environment (Wise), and fund manager at an asset management firm focused on renewable energy investments in Asia
Trina Liang-Lin still remembers a field trip to a pulp and paper company in the region during her early days as a bond analyst. Travelling to the city’s outskirts, she was first greeted by lush greenery that soon turned into what she describes as “a complete devastation of forest, with felled trees everywhere”—and the wood converted into paper at the factory.
“It was shocking to see the stark brutality of deforestation. There was a kind of sadness I couldn’t quite fathom at the time. Looking back, all I can think of now is how I had played a part in felling those trees while pushing for that bond deal,” notes the finance industry veteran, underlining the fact that one of the major deals signed at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow last November is to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. This is part of the summit’s main goal of securing global net zero by mid-century and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C.
“Even though COP26 has ended, its mission moves on to individual countries, to individual people, communities and their businesses—it should not stop with governments. As [Singapore’s minister for sustainability and the environment] Grace Fu said, the person on the street needs to know how his or her carbon footprint will
