Paul Chan, Hong Kong's financial secretary, during the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong, China, on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg
HONG KONG: As China goes all-out to forge a carbon-efficient economy, closer green financial ties among cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) will play a vital role.
Experts made the prediction at a thematic workshop during the annual Asian Financial Forum last Thursday, as they called for deeper collaboration and strengthened education.
The development of green finance is a key factor necessary for Hong Kong to build a sustainable and livable city, said Zhou Li, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily Group and publisher and editor-in-chief of China Daily Hong Kong, in his welcoming remarks at the China Daily-sponsored event themed “Exploring Cross-border Green and Sustainable Finance Opportunities in the GBA”.
“Leveraging its robust financial infrastructure, Hong Kong is positioned to facilitate the issuance of green bonds within the GBA.
“This not only allows overseas investors to access mainland bonds via Hong Kong but also contributes to global progress toward carbon neutrality,” said Zhou, who is also chairman of the Asia Leadership Roundtable.
In this endeavour, “the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government’s cooperation with financial authorities throughout the GBA is essential”, he said.
Hong Kong has been leading the pack in sustainable financing and investment, with green bond issuance accounting for about one-third of the market share in Asia.
In 2022, total green and sustainable debt arranged or issued in Hong Kong topped US$80bil, a year-on-year increase of over 40%, according to official figures.
Echoing the central government’s “3060” decarbonisation goal of reaching a carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060, the HKSAR government launched the Climate Action Plan 2050 in October 2021, outlining the strategies and targets for combating climate change and achieving carbon neutrality in four aspects – net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport, and waste reduction.
Today, a focal point of the country’s climate drive is to boost cooperation between Hong Kong and the rest of the GBA, whose mainland cities’ economic prowess complements the SAR’s advantages in financial services, said Fei Lau, senior vice-president of sustainability strategy, economics and strategic planning department at Bank of China (Hong Kong).
Nevertheless, joint efforts are needed to overcome hurdles such as rising land demands for green energy production and a lack of universal standards to measure the performance of green transformation, Lau said.
“If we want to achieve carbon neutrality, we have to see ourselves (in the GBA) as one ecosystem and mutually dependent on each other so that we can actually connect all the dots from Hong Kong and the mainland,” Lau told the packed exhibition hall. — China Daily/ANN
