Text / Green Finance Research Group, HKUST Business School
Climate change has become the focus of governments and the private sector around the world today. In 2017, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government issued the "Climate Action Blueprint 2030+", proposing to reduce Hong Kong's carbon intensity by 65% to 70% from the 2005 level by 2030, which is equivalent to reducing the total carbon emissions by 26% to 36%. , and committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Despite the HKSAR government's intention to expand the green and sustainable financial market, talent shortage remains a pressing issue in Hong Kong. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this field, close coordination between scientists, researchers and scholars is required, and it is a greater challenge to attract talents in this field.
The Green Finance Research Group of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Business School recently completed a report on the cultivation of green and sustainable financial talents in Hong Kong, and made recommendations for Hong Kong to build a relevant talent pool. The report titled "The Hong Kong Green and Sustainable Talent Development and Strategy" (The Hong Kong Green and Sustainable Talent Development and Strategy), we conducted interviews and surveys with industry professionals, hoping to help Hong Kong formulate green and sustainable financial development Strategy.
To promote the development of green and sustainable financial talents in Hong Kong, relevant policy bureaux, government departments and organizations have launched a number of measures. The so-called "stones from other mountains can be found in jade", understanding and referring to the measures of various places can be used as a reference for our policy makers and training institutions, and help to identify areas that need improvement. We will briefly describe the main points of the report in two articles. This article mainly describes the practices of the UK, Singapore and the European Union in the training of green financial talents, and Hong Kong’s efforts in training green and sustainable financial talents, as well as related opportunities and challenges, together with research Recommendations will be discussed in another article.
01
Make good use of licensing agencies to provide expertise
The UK is considered one of the global leaders in climate action. In 2021, the UK hosted the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, and issued the first UK Green Gilt, raising £6 billion; as early as June 2019, the UK became the first It is the first major economy to pass laws requiring the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, and the Green Finance Strategy launched in the same year is the most important and comprehensive top-level design of green finance in the country, and Outlines how it can capture business opportunities arising from the global demand for green finance training and qualifications by leveraging its extensive network of world-renowned universities and Charterships.
In terms of chartered institutions, the UK has a wide range of professional training programs that can provide financial practitioners with the skills and expertise they need to do business in climate finance and ESG. In 2018, the Chartered Banking Institute launched the Green Finance Certificate, and the CFA Institute developed an ESG investment certificate.
In July 2019, following the launch of the "Green Finance Strategy", the UK government and the Green Finance Institute (Green Finance Institute) also launched the "Green Finance Education Charter" (Green Finance Education Charter) to help develop skills and capabilities in green finance Talents.
In terms of public training, Oxford University has run short courses for UK government policy officials to learn the basics of green finance; other local universities have also begun offering degrees in green and sustainable finance, such as Imperial College Business School offering climate finance. Change, Management and Finance MSc, with similar MSc programs offered by Coventry University and the University of Sussex.
For Hong Kong, what can be learned from the practical experience of the United Kingdom? Chartered bodies in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom have long historical ties, and some of these organizations have branches in Hong Kong, but there is little public information on the extent of their local involvement in green finance discussions, so through links with these bodies , take the training "express train" and get skills development opportunities connected with Hong Kong's overall green finance talent development pipeline.
For example, the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute has provided ESG investment certificates in Hong Kong, providing Hong Kong practitioners with a convenient and quick option to quickly upgrade their skills in this field; similarly, chartered institutions in the non-financial sector can also support The overall upskilling of talent, such as the Energy Institute, can hire local engineers and technicians, which are critical to generating climate-related data and feeding it into financial markets.
Singapore’s uniqueness in cultivating green and sustainable finance talents is to outline the skills necessary for the operation of green and sustainable financial markets. In February 2022, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Institute of Banking and Finance of Singapore (IBF), clearly listed 12 technical skills and competencies that individuals need to perform various roles in green and sustainable finance. The details are beyond the scope of this article, but in any case, this skills framework can be used as a reference point for training and education institutions to develop relevant courses that can meet market needs and be eligible for relevant government funding.
02
Actively train public officials and offer university courses
In June 2020, Singapore Management University (SMU) joined hands with the World Bank Group (WBG) and Infrastructure Asia (Infra Asia) to develop a Capacity Building Program (Capacity Building Program) for regional mid-level and senior government officials in the field of infrastructure .
The program combines the World Bank Group's experience in capacity building programs and private sector financing expertise with Infra Asia's deep knowledge of the ASEAN region. It can be said to be an effective platform for interaction and collaboration, conducting research on real-life cases, conducting field trips, and conducting "Fireside Chats" (Fireside Chats) with international thought leaders to network with each other.
In February 2022, the National University of Singapore (NUS) launched the Master of Science in Sustainable and Green Finance (MSc SGF) programme, a partnership between the school's business school and the Sustainable and Green Finance Institute (SGFIN).
SGFIN provides critical support to the growing needs of regional and global investors, regional households and businesses, and policymakers, with the goal of building thought leadership, providing educational programs, and more, to capture and measure the sustainability of various corporate and investment decisions. sex and environmental impact.
For Hong Kong, Singapore can refer to Singapore's practice in training the public sector and providing higher education and professional courses; important skills and abilities can also be linked to licensing requirements for certain professional positions to ensure the quality of talents. University courses represent a major educational commitment to green and sustainable finance, as universities provide a foundation for understanding sustainability, and it is important that academic education be combined with progressive professional training and certification.
03
According to changes in regulatory requirements, train financial practitioners
The EU has been at the forefront of efforts to build a sustainable financial system, through legislation and policy. Policies such as the EU Taxonomy On Sustainable Finance form part of the broader Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) framework to help provide clear definitions and standards for market practice.
Industry associations such as the European Leveraged Finance Association (ELFA) help members understand how to apply regulations to daily work through white papers and industry guidelines, such as the application of ESG clauses in leveraged financial transactions, etc., and provide practitioners with information to support the integration of ESG Incorporate the functions of financial markets.
On the other hand, the EU is also consciously strengthening the collaborative research and training between scientists and engineers and financial markets. The EU Joint Research Center (JRC) is the scientific and knowledge service of the European Commission, which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support for EU policy.
The JRC has been involved in policy processes such as the development of the EU taxonomy, but more importantly, it offers a Sustainable Finance Summer School (Summer School) open to academics, policy makers and professionals, with the aim of giving researchers an understanding of the challenges facing them. and help them conduct policy-relevant research.
In general, the UK, Singapore and the EU have their own characteristics and emphases in the development of green and sustainable financial talents. The UK focuses on the role of chartered institutions in talent training, Singapore actively improves the skills of its public officials, and the EU focuses on Shifts in regulatory requirements educate those involved. The promotion of talent training in Hong Kong, as well as our research recommendations, will be discussed in another article.
Text source : Hong Kong Economic Times
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Introduction to the Green Finance Research Program of HKUST Business School
The Green Finance Research Program aims to promote the academic and educational development of green finance through a series of thematic research, contribute to the development of society and the industry, and enhance Hong Kong's status as an international green finance hub. This project is supported by the 2021/22 Thematic Research Scheme of the Research Grants Council (RGC) of the HKSAR Government. The project title is "Developing Hong Kong as a Global Green Finance Center" (Project No. N). Promote green finance (Green Finance), and actively finance investment projects with environmental benefits to achieve sustainable development goals.
The program brings together interdisciplinary academics, comprising research teams from business (finance, accounting, economics and fintech), environmental science and public policy, as well as former policy makers and experienced industry representatives. The goal is to advance the knowledge frontier of green finance through a series of inquiries aimed at fundamental research. Research topics include (1) the impact of environmental risks on financial markets and financial decisions; (2) climate risk models and derivatives; (3) financing of green infrastructure projects; (4) implementation of green financial technologies; talent development; and (6) the effectiveness of Hong Kong's green finance policy and regulatory tools. The plan adopts the policy of "thinking and practicing", and applies the new knowledge and discoveries obtained from the research to the real society through the development of financial product technology prototypes and concept verification.
The "Professor's Column" produced by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology brings together academic achievements, cutting-edge theories and knowledge popularization from professors in different fields, interprets social dynamics from the freshest perspective, and explains the mysteries of science and technology from the most cutting-edge perspective. Looking forward to gathering more cutting-edge viewpoints through the platform of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and creating vivid and profound [Professor's Column] one after another!
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