Green and inclusion, key to Hong Kong’s economic development

By Georgia Wilson
2020 Hong Kong Green Finance Association Annual Forum, identifies green and inclusive recovery as key factors to Hong Kong’s economic development...

At the 2020 Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA) Annual Forum, participants discussed the collective actions needed to drive Hong Kong’s economic development, identifying green and inclusive recovery as key factors. 

With over 700 participants - including policy makers, regulators, financial institutions, companies and civil society from Hong Kong and mainland China - top officials from Hong Kong’s S.A.R government spoke on this topic. 

Opening the forum, Paul Chan Mo-Po, Financial Secretary, said: "Hong Kong believes in green finance. Despite last year's turbulence, the amount of green bonds arranged and issued in Hong Kong tripled between 2017 and 2019 – and that came with a wider diversity of issuers. We are eager to seize the unprecedented opportunities that green and sustainable finance can bring to the Greater Bay Area and its cluster of world-class cities and internationally competitive economies. We look forward to the post-pandemic world, to the rewarding role green and sustainable finance will surely play in accelerating social and economic growth and welcome, widespread recovery."

"In a Post-COVID world, green and sustainable finance will emerge as a new trend and transition into a key theme for investment and financing, empowering global inclusive recovery,” commented Christopher Hui Ching-yu, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.

The discussion focused on four core topics, including: green recovery, Greater Bay Area collaboration, developments in sustainable finance markets and climate transition finance.

In addition to the four core topics, the association revamped its working groups in light of the rapidly evolving landscape in the region, taking the number from seven to eight topics: 

  • Green and sustainable banking
  • Green and sustainable products
  • ESG disclosure and integration
  • Policy research and dissemination
  • Green and sustainable insurance
  • External collaboration
  • Green and sustainable real estate
  • Green and sustainable private equity

"China's commitment to carbon neutrality and deeper economic integration of the Greater Bay Area will give a significant boost to both demand for and supply of green finance in Hong Kong. In addition to its on-going work in areas such as green banking, green bonds and ESG, the HKGFA will set up new working groups to promote green real estate and green private equity, and will explore options to develop an integrated carbon market for the Greater Bay Area," added Dr. Ma Jun, Chairman and President of HKGFA noted during his keynote address.

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