our requirements with this global baseline in order to build consistency and reduce greenwashing risks. in terms of green definition, we are developing a local green classification framework to align with the common ground taxonomy to provide clarity to the market. secondly, on data and capacity. data are essential for a robust sustainable finance ecosystem as they form the basis for accurate risk assessment and investment decisions. to this end, the casg has launched a repository which serves as a 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches centralised source of climate - related data to provide consistent datasets for the public. we have also developed a questionnaire together with the cdp, which seeks to facilitate sustainability reporting for non - listed companies. going forward, we hope to close more data gaps to facilitate effective climate risk management and reporting efforts in hong kong. we also strive to enhance the capacity of the financial industry. besides locally focused efforts such as the government's pilot green and sustainable finance capacity building support scheme, we also partner with various international organisations such as the international finance corporation ( ifc ) to contribute to the region's capacity building in green and sustainable finance, as well as exchange of knowledge and best practices. these efforts all contribute to enriching our ecosystem for supporting asia's efforts in tackling climate change. a third area of work is raising market awareness. here, the hkma plays two key roles. on the one hand, we assist the government in issuing green bonds to create demonstrative effect, with around us $ 24 billion equivalent worth of bonds issued so far, including the world's first tokenised government green bond. on the other hand, we lead by example as a responsible investor. as the manager of the exchange fund, we have set a target to achieve net - zero emissions for the investment portfolio by 2050. we started investing in green bonds seven years ago, and since then, we have been growing our esg and green assets across both public and private markets. so, what lies ahead of us? in my view, a pressing challenge for asia is transition. this region faces a steep transition pathway, with a real trade - off between economic development and sustainability. for some hard - to - abate sectors, which are also key economic players in this region, options to decarbonise may be limited. to address this challenge, we need to be pragmatic – we cannot simply cut off financing to " brown " or even " not so green " sectors right

eddie yue : building back greener - addressing climate change in asia welcome remarks by mr eddie yue, chief executive of the hong kong monetary authority, at the centre for asian philanthropy and society ( caps ) conference " building back greener : addressing climate change in asia ", hong kong, 5 december 2023. * * * let me begin by thanking the centre for asian philanthropy and society for inviting me here today to speak at this event. today's event is about addressing climate change in asia. this is an urgent matter. asia's carbon emission accounts for around half of the global emissions. if we can move asia onto a more sustainable growth path, it would make a meaningful contribution towards the global effort in addressing climate change. at the same time, this is also an effort that requires substantial investment. based on market estimates, some us $ 66 trillion over the next three decades is needed. china alone will require more than 100 trillion yuan. such substantial funding need cannot be met by the public sector alone. this is where climate finance comes in, to mobilise private capital to help fund climate actions. hong kong as an international financial centre and a green finance hub is wellpositioned to harness the power of finance to support asia's efforts in tackling climate change. we are the leading arranging hub for green and sustainable bond issuances in asia, capturing more than one third of the region's issuances in 2022. last year, over us $ 80 billion worth of green and sustainable bonds and loans were issued in hong kong, representing a growth of more than six times in just two years. the hkma, its fellow regulators and government agencies work hand - in - hand under the green and sustainable finance cross - agency steering group ( casg ) to further enhance the vibrancy and competitiveness of the green and sustainable finance ecosystem in hong kong. our work revolves around three key areas – standards, data and capacity, as well as awareness. first, on standards. having clear and consistent standards could enhance comparability and boosts investor confidence, which in turn supports the scaling of sustainable finance. in terms of sustainability disclosures, hong kong aims to align with global frameworks. for example, we are the first asian jurisdiction mandating climate - related disclosure across relevant sectors to specifically align with recommendations of the task force on climate - related financial disclosures by 2025. with the recent launch of the issb sustainability disclosure standards, we are also aligning