Hong Kong has potential to be Asia's leading transition finance hub: financial official

(ECNS) -- The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) is Asia's leading green financing hub and has the potential to be the continent’s leading transition finance hub, said its financial secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Wednesday at the Hong Kong Green Finance Association Annual Forum 2024 “Financing Asia’s Net Zero Transition.”

Hong Kong has made significant strides in the space of green and sustainable finance, said Chan. The city has issued an average over $63 billion in green bonds and debts annually.

The number of environmental, social, and governance funds authorized by the Securities and Futures Commission has also been on the rise. As of June this year, there were over 230 this kind of funds, with managing assets exceeding $160 billion, representing a 60 percent growth compared to three years ago.

“That means Hong Kong already has a strong foundation to develop the transition finance market,” Chan said.

He is optimistic about the progress that Hong Kong could make in terms of transition finance, but the city needs to raise people’s awareness of the necessity of transition finance, and of the potential as well. 

Hong Kong has extended the Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme in the city’s budget to 2027, Chan noted, adding that in May this year, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, aiming to make it compatible with the two mainstream taxonomies, the Chinese mainland and the European Union.

Currently, the HKMA is developing the next phase of the Taxonomy to include transition activities. “It is our plan to conduct a public consultation for this in early 2025,” said Chan. “Our efforts will contribute to the global development and consensus-building on transition taxonomy,” he added.