Sustainable development has become an important goal for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), with Mainland China setting 2060 as the deadline for carbon neutrality.
This trend has led the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) and global bank HSBC team up and help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) upgrade to achieve environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives.
At the seminar organized by HKTDC and HSBC, industry elites from the industry discussed ESG trends and experiences; and help SMEs grasp the concept of sustainable development so they can upgrade and transform and put themselves in a better position to seize green opportunities in the GBA.
Dr Patrick Lau, Deputy Executive Director of the HKTDC revealed that in order to combat climate change, governments around the world have recently set the goal of carbon neutrality. In the past two years, investment in sustainable development has increased 15% to US$35 trn. It is estimated that by 2030 this amount will rise to US$90 trn.
Christina Ong, Head of Business Banking, Commercial Banking at HSBC Hong Kong, said sustainable development was an issue for all firms, not just large ones. Investors favour firms practising ESG, and these companies attract a new generation of talent. She said the results of HSBC’s ‘HSBC Navigator’ survey last year showed that setting sustainable development goals was one of the three main measures Hong Kong enterprises could take to improve resilience and that ESG adoption could bring income growth to enterprises.
Aruna Gaitonde, Editor in Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
