Hong Kong’s Exchanges and Clearing Ltd (HKEX) announced that it had enlisted major banks including HSBC and companies such as Tencent to develop a global carbon market.
HKEX said in a press release that it was organizing the Hong Kong International Carbon Market Council. But it didn’t mention when it would launch this market.
HKEX partners with companies and financial firms to explore carbon opportunities in the region.
Several big corporations and lenders would be the inaugural members of the Council. These include HSBC, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, ANZ, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, and The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.
Tech giant Tencent and Cathay Pacific Airways are also part of the Council. These large firms will play a crucial role in supporting HKEX vision to create a leading carbon market, according to its CEO Nicolas Aguzin. He also added that,
“This is a significant step forward in our collective journey to achieving net zero… And we believe that, over time, more participants sharing the same goal and ambition will join us on this net-zero transition journey, securing the future for the next generation…”
Growing the Global Carbon Market
The main focus of this collaboration is to build an international carbon market via Hong Kong’s position as a global financial center. It will be for making the green finance ecosystem flourish in Hong Kong and Mainland China.
The Council will get insights from its members on how to develop an effective carbon market. Its launch will lay the foundation for Hong Kong to become a carbon hub in Asia. Plus, it will be contributing to achieving a low carbon economy.
This announcement is the most recent in HKEX’s carbon initiatives. Last March, HKEX partnered with Guangzhou-based China Emissions Exchange (CEEX) to explore cooperation in promoting sustainability through carbon finance.
In 2021, HKEX also joined the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and the Net Zero Financial Service Providers Alliance (NZFSPA). They’re part of its ongoing commitment to develop financial markets.
The global efforts to fight climate change have been growing and flooding the voluntary carbon markets. They enable emitters to offset their footprint by buying carbon credits. They are from projects that remove or avoid carbon emissions.
A similar Asian venture to help ramp up the carbon market happened last year when the Singapore exchange launched Climate Impact X.
CIX is also a new global spot trading program for quality carbon credits. It’s a joint venture between DBS Bank, SGX Group, Standard Chartered and Temasek that will launch early next year.