Joined by a wide range of cross-sector panellists, CCA organised a webinar discussing the main takeaways of COP26 and the highlights from the Hong Kong Exchange’s newly published “Reporting on TCFD Recommendations — Guidance on Climate Disclosures” on 13 January, 2022. Held across two sessions, a morning session in Cantonese and an afternoon session in English, the event attracted attendance of nearly 400 participants.

CCA Director and Head of Climate Strategy Mr John Sayer kicked-off the webinar by sharing both the positive progress and remaining challenges that came out of COP26, which he personally attended. He summarized the various voluntary initiatives and bilateral pacts that were announced, including the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, the Global Methane Pledge, amongst others, as well as reviewing the subsequent implications for businesses. Mr Sayer closed his session with analysing the remaining gaps to net-zero, as well as the significance of the formation of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

In the morning session, Mr Daryl Ho, Executive Director of Banking Policy at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, began with an overview of Hong Kong and Mainland China’s carbon neutrality ambitions, and the initiatives and behavioural changes that will be required to meet the set targets. Mr Ho touched on the major industries that are expected to be mostly impacted in the coming years as a result of these policy changes. He further highlighted the impacts that will be felt by the financial sector which will need to begin factoring in both transitional and physical risks within their investment strategies. Mr Ho ended on the growing influence of climate risks within the industry, and the corresponding importance of high-quality, data-rich climate disclosures in order to inform investment decisions.

Attendees in the afternoon had the opportunity to hear from Ms Kelly Lee, Vice President of the Policy and Secretariat Services Unit in the Listing Division of the Hong Kong Exchange. Ms Lee reviewed the drivers behind net-zero action from the capital markets, the foundation behind the TCFD framework, as well as reiterated the significance of ISSB and the standardisation of the industry’s disclosure standards. She gave an overview of the objectives and strategic plan of Hong Kong’s Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group, as well as an update on the most recent enhancements of HKEX’s reporting requirements since July 2020. Ms Lee closed her session with a review of the current disclosure status of ESG reporting amongst issuers, as well as an introduction of ESG Academy, HKEX’s ESG educational resource for the business community.

Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA, then presented the highlights of the HKEX “Guidance on Climate Disclosures”, a practical guide on how businesses can align their disclosures with the recommendations of The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). He explained that the guide breaks down the process into eight critical steps, and how each step is accompanied by a suggested workflow, the guiding principles for implementation, as well as hypothetical samples to demonstrate the disclosures in action. He further explained how companies can tackle complex exercises such as scenario analysis and risk identification and prioritisation, through the aid of the guide.

The panel discussions that followed featured Mr Victor Kwong, General Manager of Corporate Sustainability of the Hong Kong and China Gas Company; Mr Will Symons, Asia Pacific Climate and Sustainability Leader at Deloitte, and Mr Ruben Langbroek, Head of Asia Pacific for GRESB. Observations were shared on topics such as how corporates assess climate risks and business impacts, sectoral and country forerunners in climate risk disclosure standards, the concept of double materiality, and the challenges of tackling financed emissions in the absence of robust data, among others. Participants were eager to raise questions and exchange their views with the speakers and panellists.

【Webinar】Debriefing on COP26 and HKEX TCFD Guide

1.

2.

Photo captions:

1. (From top left) Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA, presented the highlights of the HKEX “Guidance on Climate Disclosures”; Mr Daryl Ho, Executive Director of Banking Policy at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, encouraged the financial sector to begin factoring in both the transitional and physical climate risks within their investment strategies. (From bottom left) Ms Kelly Lee, Vice President of the Policy and Secretariat Services Unit in the Listing Division of the Hong Kong Exchange, explained the significance of the standardisation of the industry’s disclosure standards; and Mr John Sayer, CCA Director, shared COP26’s messages for business globally.
2. (From left to right) Panelists joining the panel discussions: Mr Victor Kwong, General Manager of Corporate Sustainability of the Hong Kong and China Gas Company; Mr Ruben Langbroek, Head of Asia Pacific for GRESB and Mr Will Symons, Asia Pacific Climate and Sustainability Leader at Deloitte.