Cross-Agency Steering Group and CDP co-organise joint seminar on sustainability reporting

On March 13, 2023, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published a press release to inform of a recent seminar on sustainability reporting which was co-organized by the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group (Steering Group) – which the HKMA and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) are members of – and CDP, an international non-profit organisation that runs the global environmental disclosure system for companies. The seminar took place on March 13, 2023 and brought together representatives from „the corporate, banking, insurance, asset management, professional services and fintech sectors“.
To recall, in December 2022, the Steering Group and CDP entered into a collaboration agreement to jointly enhance climate data availability and sustainability reporting in Hong Kong. The agreement encompassed the following key aspects:
– the enhancement of „climate and environmental disclosure“,
– the improvement of „data availability and accessibility in Hong Kong“;
– the fostering of „capacity building“ among Hong Kong companies to ensure that their ESG disclosures are in line with global standards and practices; and
– the improvement of ESG data flow so as to enhance financial institutions‘ ability to support their clientele with the transition to zero net carbon.
In the seminar noted above, participants discussed the significance of sustainability reporting and the benefits of such not only to investors, but to companies and regulators alike in their effort to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Additionally, the organizers showed how small and medium size enterprises can use the Steering Group’s Questionnaire – a set of templates for sustainability disclosures that are aligned with the financial disclosure framework of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)) – „to communicate their sustainability efforts to stakeholders, and how financial institutions can collect climate data from their clients while supporting their clients’ low-carbon transition“.
Apart from discussions, the Steering Group published the complete set of questionnaires, and – most importantly – accompanying guidance and staff teaching material with respect to ESG and ESG disclosures which was missing in its last publication in December 2022 (please see EventID 18845 in this context for more information). The complete set of material is noted below:
– Questionnaire for Micro Enterprises
– Questionnaire for Small Enterprises
– Questionnaire for Medium Enterprises
– Questionnaire guidance
– General teach-in on climate risks and terminology