Asia-Pacific

HK Launches Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance

New centre to serve as a cross-sector platform to coordinate transition efforts and repository for resources, data and analytics.

Hong Kong’s Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group has announced the next steps to advance its strategy to bolster the city’s position as a leader in green and sustainable finance and help transition the financial ecosystem towards carbon neutrality.

Established in May 2020, the Steering Group is co-chaired by the HKMA (Hong Kong Monetary Authority) and the SFC (Securities and Futures Commission).

Its members include the Environment Bureau, FSTB (Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau), HKEX (Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing), the IA (Insurance Authority) and MPFA (Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority).

In December 2020, the Steering Group published its long-term strategic plan with action points which aim to coordinate the management of climate and environmental risks to the financial sector, accelerate the growth of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong and support the government’s climate strategies.

On Thursday (15 June), the Steering Group set out its priorities to advance Hong Kong’s position as a leader in green and sustainable finance and facilitate the financial ecosystem’s transition towards carbon neutrality.

On climate-related disclosures & sustainability reporting, the Steering Group will seek to make progress towards mandating climate-related disclosures aligned with the TCFD framework by 2025 across relevant sectors. The SFC and HKEX will collaborate with the FRC (Financial Reporting Council) and HKICPA (Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants) to work on a roadmap to evaluate and potentially adopt the new standard.

On carbon market opportunities, the Steering Group has set up a Carbon Market Work Stream (CMWS) co-chaired by the SFC and HKEX to assess the feasibility of developing Hong Kong as a regional carbon trading centre to strengthen collaboration in the GBA. The CMWS will actively explore opportunities presented by both the cap-and-trade carbon market and the voluntary carbon market in China and overseas.

On bolstering public and private sector coordination efforts, the Steering Group has launched the Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance, which will serve as a cross-sector platform to coordinate the efforts of financial regulators, government agencies, industry stakeholders and academia in capacity building, thought leadership and policy development. It will also serve as a repository for resources, data and analytics which support the transition to a more sustainable development pathway.

On talent development and data, the Steering Group has established working groups to develop strategies and roadmaps to promote capacity building and develop data repository and analytics capabilities.

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