As geopolitical headwinds trigger an ESG (environmental, social and governance) retreat in some parts of the world, Hong Kong and Asia are stepping up — positioning the city as a leading hub for sustainable finance and driving more innovative, nature-based solutions to address the global environmental challenge, officials and experts said at a summit.

“These targets are not mere aspirations but a call to action, compelling us to leverage our position as a global financial center to pioneer and drive innovative financing solutions that bridge environmental goals with financial expertise,” Joseph Chan Ho-lim, acting secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, said in his opening speech at The Green Tech Summit 2025 in Hong Kong on Wednesday.'

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In 2024, total green and sustainable debt, including both bonds and loans, issued in Hong Kong exceeded $84 billion. The volume of green and sustainable bonds arranged in the city amounted to nearly $43 billion, capturing around 45 percent of the regional total and ranking first in the Asian market for seven consecutive years since 2018, according to Chan.

“I think it’s fair to say we have no competitors right now,” said Daniel Fung, vice chairman of Financial Services Development Council, in his keynote speech, highlighting the robust subscription to green bonds from the public and investment community – both locally and globally.

Fung depicted the notable US pullback from ESG as a part of the bigger story as the world’s largest economy abandons its more than half-century “Pivot to Asia” policy and retreats from the region.  

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Hong Kong, at the forefront of a turning point history, is well positioned to benefit from the homecoming of US-listed Chinese enterprises and finest minds that are voting with their feet and migrating to the city, he noted.

With the Chinese mainland — the world’s leading green tech innovator — on Hong Kong’s doorstep, Fung said he believed the financial hub has the right ingredients to allocate meaningful capital in innovative nature-based solutions for a sustainable future.

Despite flip-flop volatilities, “the ESG agenda at a systemic level has not dramatically and fundamentally changed”, Helene Li, co-founder and CEO of GoImpact Capital Partners, told China Daily.

This year, Hong Kong has been confronted with an unprecedented number of typhoons. “You cannot dress it up like the new normal. A nature, climate risk doesn’t stop because of whatever we might say in terms of geopolitics,” Li noted.

Investment in green tech is not going away, but “shifting and channeling more to the practical aspects that can drive action,” she stressed. This goes beyond carbon-related projects to more nature-based solutions including ocean funds, forestry funds and biodiversity credits.

Contact the writer at sophialuo@chinadailyhk.com