Date: 19 May 2025 (Mon) 3pm – 4:15pm HKT

Format: Live-streamed virtually on Zoom and YouTube by HKGFA

This session featured

Welcoming Remarks

• Tracy Wong Harris, Chairperson, Green Commercial Banking Committee, HKAB; Education Council Member and Executive Vice President, HKGFA

Introductory Remarks

• Rami Hayek, Senior Advisor, Hong Kong Monetary Authority

Fireside Chat

Moderator

• Prof. Christine Loh, SBS, JP, OBE, Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Honorary Advisor, Education Council, HKGFA

Panellists

• Adam Ng, Advisor, CASI
• Chaoni Huang, Executive Vice President and Education Council Member, HKGFA; Managing Director, Head of Sustainable Capital Markets APAC, BNP Paribas
• Pritya Pravina, Director, Climate Change, Asia Pacific, HSBC
• Amy Yu, Lead Practitioner, Standard Chartered Bank

Closing Remarks (ECF-GSF Certification)

• Kevin Lung, General Manager, HKIB

Introduction

Industry practitioners and education providers joined to introduce the latest developments in sustainable finance (GSF) capacity building opportunities in Hong Kong and their inspiring journeys at the HKGFA-HKAB-HKIB-CASI webinar, “Empowering Hong Kong’s Sustainable Finance: Enhancing Talent Capacity”.

The following progress and opportunities were highlighted during the session:

1. Hong Kong’s key role in facilitating GSF capital flow: The green and sustainable debt issuance in Hong Kong has increased by over 60% last year. As a leading GSF hub, Hong Kong plays a critical role in addressing the funding gap to achieving net-zero ambitions, which calls for significant talent and preparedness enhancement across all functions in the financial industry.
2. The HKMA’s two-pronged approach in GSF talent enhancement: The HKMA provides training frameworks in tandem with government subsidies under the Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme (CBSS) to incentivise practitioners to equip themselves with the latest GSF and transition knowledge and skills. CBSS has also recently been extended until 2028.
3. The landscape of sustainability and GSF are constantly evolving and can be shaped by the contrasting geographies. Both local and regional providers, such as HKGFA and CASI, offer a myriad of GSF training programmes in addition to the other Enhanced Competency Framework on Green and Sustainable Finance (ECF-GSF) accredited courses and eligible programmes under the CBSS for finance professionals to learn, pivot, and better align themselves with the organisation’s sustainability goals.
4. Never too different or too late – Regardless of your background or experience, there is always room for more talent in sustainability as the physical and socioeconomic risks associated with climate change calls for collective efforts and immediate action. HKGFA, HKAB, HKIB, and CASI amongst other training providers will continue to engage with the community and provide quality capacity building resources to advance Hong Kong as a leading global SF hub.

Watch the replay here: https://youtu.be/EUGARIQ1U24

Additional Resources:

1. Enhanced Competency Framework, HKMA: https://www.hkma.gov.hk/eng/key-functions/international-financial-centre/soft-infrastructure/enhanced-competency-framework/
2. ECF – Green and Sustainable Finance (Core Level), HKIB: https://www.hkib.org/page/251
3. ECF – Green and Sustainable Finance (Professional Level), HKIB: https://www.hkib.org/page/270
4. Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme: https://www.greentalent.org.hk/
5. Sustainable Finance Internship Platform: https://www.sustainablefinance.org.hk/en/learning-development/sustainable-finance-internship-platform
6. CASI Academy, CASI: https://www.casi.net/academy
7. HKGFA-HKUST Certificate in Sustainable Finance (Cohort 6 – 7, 14, 21 Jun 2025) (Registration ends on 23 May 2025), HKGFA: https://www.hkgreenfinance.org/event/hkgfa-hkust-certificate-in-sustainable-finance/

This webinar is co-organised by HKGFA, HKAB, HKIB, and CASI.

For more details, please contact the HKGFA Secretariat at info@hkgreenfinance.org.