Green and sustainable finance is a new but rapidly expanding area of financial activities. Capitalising on the enormous green finance opportunities presented by the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the Belt and Road Initiative, we will continue to provide the necessary infrastructure and catalyst for promoting market development and encouraging more entities to make use of Hong Kong’s capital markets as well as financial and professional services for green and sustainable investment, financing and certification, echoing the HKSAR Government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050.
Government Sustainable Bonds – The Government Sustainable Bond Programme (GSBP, previously known as the Government Green Bond Programme) was launched in 2018 with an initial borrowing ceiling of HK$100 billion. To promote market development, the borrowing ceiling was increased to HK$200 billion in July 2021 and the scope of the programme was also expanded. To further consolidate Hong Kong’s position as an international green and sustainable finance hub, it was announced in the 2023-24 Budget that the scope of the Government Green Bond Programme would be further expanded to cover sustainable projects. As set out in the 2024-25 Budget, a borrowing ceiling at a total of HK$500 billion has been set for the GSBP and Infrastructure Bond Programme (which was established in May 2024) to allow more flexibility in quota re-allocation. As at August 2024, a total of around HK$220 billion equivalent of green bonds, targeting global institutional or local retail investors, and covering HK dollar, Renminbi, US dollar and Euro tranches in multiple tenors, have been successfully issued under the programme and were well received, affirming investors’ confidence in Hong Kong’s credit strengths and economic fundamentals in the long term. Among the green bonds issued, we launched two batches of retail green bonds in 2022 and 2023 as well as two batches of tokenised green bonds in 2023 and 2024 respectively, further promoting the development of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong.
Funding schemes – To support green and sustainable bond issuance and lending to further enrich the green and sustainable finance ecosystem in Hong Kong, the Government launched the three-year Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme in May 2021 to provide subsidy for eligible bond issuers and loan borrowers to cover part of their expenses on bond issuance and external review services. As announced in the 2024-25 Budget, the Scheme has been extended by three years from 2024 to 2027, with an expanded scope of subsidies to cover transition bonds and loans. In December 2022, the Government launched the three-year Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme to provide subsidies to local eligible practitioners and prospective practitioners participating in training related to green and sustainable finance in response to the new trend of developing low carbon and sustainable economy. In June 2024, the Government launched the Green and Sustainable Fintech Proof-of-Concept Funding Support Scheme to provide early-stage funding to support technology companies or research institutes conducting green fintech activities to collaborate with local enterprises to co-develop new projects in the market that can address the industry pain points. The Scheme facilitates the solutions concerned to complete the commercialisation and proof-of-concept stage and enables wider adoption of green and sustainable fintech solutions with potential in the business landscape of Hong Kong.
Cross-agency collaboration – The Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group was established in May 2020 and a strategic plan was promulgated in December 2020, setting out six key focus areas and five near-term action points for strengthening Hong Kong’s financial ecosystem to support a greener and more sustainable future. We will join hands with the financial sector and relevant stakeholders to take forward the strategic plan and continue to mobilise capital towards sustainable projects in the region.
For more information, please visit the following websites/linked documents:
Government Sustainable Bond Programme
https://www.hkgb.gov.hk/en/sustainablebond/sustainablebondintroduction.html
Green and Sustainable Banking, HKMA
https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/banking/banking-regulatory-and-supervisory-regime/green-and-sustainable-banking/
Green and sustainable finance, SFC
https://www.sfc.hk/en/Green-and-sustainable-finance
Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme, HKMA
https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/international-financial-centre/bond-market-development/tax-concessions-and-incentive-schemes/
Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme
https://www.greentalent.org.hk/
Core Climate, HKEX
https://www.hkex.com.hk/Join-Our-Market/Sustainable-Finance/Core-Climate?sc_lang=en
Sustainable & Green Exchange, HKEX
https://www.hkex.com.hk/Join-Our-Market/Sustainable-Finance/HKEX-STAGE?sc_lang=en