"The public is beginning to demand of the products they buy, the services they use and companies they do business with whether they are environmentally and socially sustainable," Simon Andrews, regional manager at International Finance Corporation (IFC), a development arm of the World Bank Group, said.

Environmental and social sustainability was another coming trend for all businesses, particularly globalised ones, he told a recent workshop in Bangkok.

Consumers have become increasingly aware of environmental and social issues in their everyday lives. The leading companies and leading financial institutions in the world see environmental and social sustainability as a niche marketing tool, a way to communicate to their customers about the environmental and social sustainability attributes to the products they deliver.

About 85 percent of global project finance is now implemented in accordance with the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of principles for environmental and social risk management in project finance, based on IFC performance standards ranging from pollution prevention and community health to culture.

"To some extent, it's become more mainstream," he said.

Similar challenges from consumer demand for the green concept exist across Asian countries, where central banks have been promoting the green banking concept, guided by environmental and social risk management, said Rong Zhang, programme manager for environmental and social standards at IFC.

South Korea and Indonesia held green banking conferences in June and this month. In Thailand, similar challenges exist.