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Hong Kong Green Week: Green X Finance X Technology

The Hong Kong Green Week will be held next week (26 February to 2 March) and is one of the mega events in Hong Kong this year.  It will feature a series of events, including keynote speeches, seminars, roundtable meetings, and expert discussions organised by different institutions, to explore ways to promote green economy globally for achieving sustainable development and to support Hong Kong’s development of green technology and green finance.

The Hong Kong Green Week is coordinated by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau, with our Bureau as one of the event organisers.  FSTB, together with stakeholders, has been actively promoting the development of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong.  We will also be organising a green finance-related activity during the Hong Kong Green Week to enhance the understanding of industry participants and the general public on the latest developments and other related policies of green finance in Hong Kong.
 

Green Fintech: Catalyst for Scaling Sustainable Finance

FSTB, together with financial regulators and in collaboration with Invest Hong Kong and Cyberport, will host a seminar titled “Green Fintech: Catalyst for Scaling Sustainable Finance” in the morning of 1 March.  The seminar will explore the application of green fintech in supporting the development of sustainable capital markets and meeting regulatory requirements, thereby enhancing Hong Kong’s strength as an international centre for green technology and finance.
 

We will invite guest speakers to share about the potential and opportunities of leveraging fintech in the field of green finance, and financial institutions will showcase practical cases of using green fintech to facilitate business development and meet regulatory requirements.

 

Hong Kong Green Fintech Map

We also plan to launch the Prototype Hong Kong Green Fintech Map at the seminar.  This directory will help companies and financial institutions better understand the availability and development of green fintech solutions in the Hong Kong, thereby raising the images and profile of the firms in this sector.  More details will be announced at the event, so stay tuned!

 

Other Green Fintech Initiatives

In addition to the above-mentioned green fintech event, the Government is actively taking various measures to promote the integration of green finance and technology from multiple perspectives, including market cultivation, capacity building, and subsidising innovation, with a view to accelerating Hong Kong’s development as an international centre for green technology and finance.  These measures include:

  • Digital Green Bonds: In early February, we successfully issued digital green bonds of around HK$6 billion equivalent denominated in HK dollars, Renminbi, US dollars and euro under the Government Green Bond Programme. This is the second issuance following the HKSAR Government's inaugural tokenised green bond issued in February last year and has achieved a number of breakthroughs, including broadening investor participation via existing market infrastructure, streamlining issuance process by issuing in digitally native format, building in standardisation elements, and integrating green bond disclosure with digital assets platform.

  • Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions Calculation and Estimation Tools: The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (Steering Group), has engaged with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology to develop the GHG emissions calculation and estimation tools, which were officially launched on 21 February. These tools are available for free public access on the website of the Steering Group, facilitating sustainability reporting by corporates and financial institutions in Hong Kong.  The two tools enable users to calculate their own GHG emissions based on actual activity levels and estimate the GHG emissions of their investees or borrowers where data is limited.  These easy-to-use tools equip small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the means to manage their environmental footprint and encourage market participants to improve sustainable business practices.

  • Revamped Official Website of the Steering Group: On 21 February, the Steering Group revamped its official website with enhanced database and tools. In addition to the GHG emissions calculation and estimation tools mentioned above, a digitalised version of the Climate and Environmental Risk Questionnaire for Non-listed companies (Questionnaire) has been added.  The Questionnaire was launched in 2022 by the Steering Group and CDP to help corporates, particularly SMEs, in sustainability reporting.  The digitalised Questionnaire will facilitate relevant reporting and will support broader consent-based data sharing between corporates and financial institutions.  Furthermore, the digitalised Questionnaire can directly input the results from the GHG emissions calculation tool, providing convenience for users.

  • Proof-of-Concept Subsidy Scheme: In the 2023 Policy Address, the Government announced its plan to launch a dedicated proof-of-concept subsidy scheme for green fintech in the first half of 2024. The new scheme will promote the development of technological solutions and provide early-stage funding support for pre-commercialised green fintech, conducive to expanding the green fintech ecosystem.  Further details will be announced in due course.

 

Other Finance Stream Events during the Hong Kong Green Week

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority will also collaborate with various international and local institutions to organise a series of finance stream events during the Hong Kong Green Week to foster cooperation and share insights.  These events include a three-day “Climate Business Forum: Asia Pacific” co-hosted with the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group.  The forum will bring together political and business leaders in the financial sector as well as industry representatives from the Asia-Pacific region to share valuable insights, and delve deeply into various important financial issues related to green transformation.

If you are interested in attending Hong Kong Green Week, please visit the following website for more information and registration:
https://www.itib.gov.hk/en/hkgreenweek/

We hope to receive support from all sectors and work together to build a greener and better Hong Kong.

 

23 February 2024