HKEX’s Laura Cha pledges tighter ESG disclosure, easier capital access for firms - South China Morning Post
HKEX chairwoman Laura Cha pledges tighter ESG information disclosure standards, while providing easier access to capital for green tech firms to help boost China’s carbon neutrality goal | South China Morning Post
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HKEX chairwoman Laura Cha pledges tighter ESG information disclosure standards, while providing easier access to capital for green tech firms to help boost China’s carbon neutrality goal
- Cha told the 2023 Bund Summit in Shanghai that Hong Kong will ensure that its climate disclosure rules are in line with the highest global standards
- She also said the city’s exchange is pushing for more innovative means to expand financing channels for green technology companies
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) will keep raising its standards for
climate-related information disclosure, while providing easier access to capital for quality green tech firms as part of efforts to reinforce
China’s carbon neutrality goal, according to chairwoman
Laura Cha Shih May-lung.
Shanghai. “We will make sure that our [information disclosure] rules are in line with the highest international standards.”
technology companies, without elaborating on this plan.
“Hong Kong and the HKEX are able to make our contributions to the country’s carbon neutrality push in financing green tech firms, connecting domestic [companies], overseas firms and funds to participate in low-carbon transition, as well as spurring green tech innovations and sustainable development,” she said.
three-day Bund Summit, which concludes on Sunday, brings together senior policymakers, financial executives and academics around the world to shed light on the country’s economic status and prospects amid worries about US-China decoupling. The annual event is run by the China Finance 40 Forum, a non-governmental organisation.
Cha’s remarks underscore efforts proposed by Beijing to fully engage with Hong Kong, which plays a major role in offshore yuan trading, settlements and creating a risk management ecosystem, to allocate financial resources and help in the country’s economic growth.
Nio,
Li Auto and
Xpeng as well as electric vehicle battery producer
China Aviation Lithium Battery.
China Securities Regulatory Commission between 2001 and 2004, said the HKEX has become the top
initial public offering destination for the mainland’s green tech firms.
China’s green financing to soar next 30 years despite rising rates
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is estimated to need more than US$20 trillion in investments over the next 15 years to deliver on its sustainability goals, according to Cha.
Xi Jinping in September 2020 pledged at the
United Nations General Assembly that the country would reach peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
Financing demand for green projects in China, however, is expected to top 300 trillion yuan (US$41 trillion) from 2021 to 2050, as mainland authorities push ahead with those ambitious climate goals, according to a forecast by Beijing-based Institution of Finance and Sustainability in late 2022.
Hong Kong-listed firms not ready for new ESG disclosure rules: Grant Thornton
proposed to implement new reporting requirements from next year that are aligned with standards for
a global baseline for disclosures set by the
International Sustainability Standards Board.
environmental, social and corporate governance disclosures will be mandatory, as opposed to the current “comply or explain” process.
Meanwhile, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences professor Zhang Xiaojing suggested at the Bund Summit on Saturday that senior Beijing authorities step aside from deliberations about technological innovations in various fields and allow market forces to support tech businesses.
“We must give market forces a full play in pricing financial risks and allocating financial resources,” Zhang said. “Government departments are supposed to relinquish their role in guaranteeing investment safety.”
Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”