The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has released a set of plans to develop its credentials as a regional centre for green finance as well as combat the climate crisis.
“Climate change is one of the major risks threatening the well-being of mankind. It must be tackled on a global basis and across different sectors of the economy,” said Norman Chan, chief executive of the HKMA – considered Hong Kong’s de facto central bank – at a green finance forum on May 7, 2019.
“How the banking and financial system operates will clearly have an impact on the way in which climate risk is managed or reduced. The HKMA, in support of the mission to reduce climate change risks and to achieve sustainable finance, will launch three sets of measures,” added Chan.
The measures involve developing a common framework to assess the ‘greenness baseline’ of individual banks, setting tangible deliverables for promoting the green and sustainable developments of Hong Kong’s banking industry and implementing, monitoring and evaluating banks’ progress.
Next, the HKMA will adopt a principle that priority can be given to green and ESG investments if the long-term return is akin to other investments on a risk-adjusted basis.
The third measure is to establish a Centre for Green Finance (CGF). The CGF will act as a platform for technical support and to share experiences for the green development of the Hong Kong banking and finance industry, HKMA said in a statement.
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