Climate change: Net zero organisation GFANZ to open Hong Kong chapter to support Asia’s green finance development

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), the world’s largest coalition of financial institutions committed to the goal of net zero emissions by 2050, will open a chapter in Hong Kong to accelerate decarbonisation in the Asia-Pacific region, the organisation announced on Thursday.

The Hong Kong chapter, as part of GFANZ’s broader Asia-Pacific network launched last June, will collaborate with financial institutions in China on net-zero efforts, including transition planning and building the scale of transition finance. It will work with local sustainable finance initiatives such as the Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA) and will be advised by Eddie Yue Wai-man, CEO of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Ma Jun, chairman of the HKGFA.

“With Hong Kong’s unique role as a gateway to mainland China and our vibrant green finance ecosystem, I am confident that the chapter will contribute meaningfully to GFANZ’s efforts in building capacity among financial institutions in this part of the region to support their net-zero transition,” Yue said.

GFANZ will open a physical office in Hong Kong in late 2023 or early 2024 and form a consultative group of leaders from the region to convene financial institutions from Greater China to support their work on transition planning and scaling transition finance, according to the group.

“Transition finance will be the next big theme for sustainable finance development globally, especially in Asia,” Ma said. “Effective delivery of transition finance solutions requires collective efforts to raise awareness and develop tools and methodologies.”

Founded in April 2021 during the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow by Mark Carney, UN special envoy on climate action and finance, GFANZ aims to expand the number of net zero-committed financial institutions and to establish a forum for addressing sector-wide challenges associated with the net-zero transition. It now has over 650 institutions across the financial sector, including banks, insurers, asset owners, asset managers, financial service providers and investment consultants, spanning 50 countries and representing 40 per cent of global private financial assets.