HONG KONG, Oct. 29, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Climate change is bringing a global and unprecedented impact to our world. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), in partnership with the World Green Organisation (WGO), organized the "UN Climate Finance & Sustainable Investing Conference 2019" from 17th to 18th October, 2019, at Asia Society Hong Kong Centre. It was the first large-scale conference discussing climate finance and sustainable investing organized in Hong Kong by the United Nations. It aims to bring together policymakers, private business and financial sectors, international organizations, and other relevant stakeholders to discuss the pressing issues in promoting climate resilient investment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and scale the Asia-Pacific's green capital market. The 2-day international conference hosted over 400 attendees, examining six topics oriented towards the UN SDGs.
It has been a pleasure to have Dr. Tientip Subhanij, Chief of Financing for Development Section, MPFD, ESCAP, United Nations, as the honorary advisor of the "UN Climate Finance & Sustainable Investing Conference 2019", along with Dr. William Yu, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of World Green Organisation. Mr. Chan Ho Lim, Joseph, JP, Under Secretary for Financial Services & the Treasury; Dr. Chan Pak Li, Bernard, JP, Under Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development; Mr. Tim Lui, SBS, JP, Chairman of the Securities and Futures Commission; Mr. Kevin Rideout, Managing Director of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; and Mr. Laurence Li, Chairman of the Financial Services Development Council also attended and supported the conference.
Other attendees include guest speakers from the Ministries of Finance of Vietnam and Thailand, as well as experts from China, Singapore, the Philippines, Japan, the United States and Europe. Representatives of IFC, The World Bank Group and Asian Development Bank Institute also supported. A number of renowned international and local enterprises also joined, including Allianz Global Investors, BCT Group, Invesco Hong Kong Limited, Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited, The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Regional Project Energy Security and Climate Change Asia-Pacific, Federal Group Global Limited, TREELION Foundation, BDO, etc. With over 400 participants of the conference, including CEOs, CFOs and Directors of publicly listed companies, asset management, family offices, private equity, investment banks, reinsurance, energy utilities, start-up, estate developers, rating agency, high net worth investors and policymakers. Meetings and Exhibitions Hong Kong (MEHK) by The Hong Kong Tourism Board is much appreciated for supporting the conference.
In 2015, all 193 member states of the United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and formulated 17 SDGs, with these new goals that universally apply to all, from 2016 to 2030, countries will mobilize efforts to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities, bring about peace and sustainable prosperity and tackle climate change. With regards to SDGs, "UN Climate Finance & Sustainable Investing Conference 2019" delved into six topics:
Accelerating progress on climate action in Asia and the Pacific will require significant resources and there is an increasing need to look across the role of both public and private players to effectively respond to climate change and achieve the SDGs. While Governments will need to accelerate the reform of budget processes and increase technical capacity to systematically address climate change across their public investment portfolio, the private sector will be critical in achieving the SDGs through leveraging their financial resources and innovation for sustainable development. Green finance is gaining momentum, and one of the most significant growth opportunities in the capital markets is in green bonds. In 2018, the global green bond issuance reached US$ 167 billion.
Dr. William Yu, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of World Green Organisation, stated that "The conference with six topics enables the inflow of market updates and exchange of new concepts, and establishes extensive collaborations with project proponents and investors from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Asia and overseas countries. It reinforces Hong Kong's regional leading position in climate finance and sustainable investing, and connects Hong Kong to government, business and financial sector leaders to facilitate the climate action progress and the integration of resources through this established climate finance platform coupled with the network of the United Nations.
Encourage public and private sector partnership towards SDGs
Dr. Tientip Subhanij, Chief of Financing for Development Section, MPFD, ESCAP, United Nations stated, "Countries are making very slow progress towards SDGs and there is an urgent need to step up SDGs implementation and to mobilize adequate finance to support SDGs. Asia Pacific is lagging behind in achieving SDGs and at this rate of progress, Asia Pacific will miss every single goal by the year 2030. UN in general, including UNESCAP is stepping up its efforts to implement SDGs. Goal 8 and Goal 13, in particular, are lagging behind. As public sector alone will not be able to achieve the 2030 agenda, partnership with private sector is crucial in order to change the situation. UNESCAP organizes "UN Climate Finance & Sustainable Investing Conference 2019" in partnership with WGO, with support from Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and Financial Services Development Council to demonstrate how UN and private sector can work together to raise sustainability awareness and mobilize support from financial sector to finance SDGs.
She added that Hong Kong is well placed to be a leader in Green Finance as it is a financial center with great willingness to pursue sustainability agenda. With this kind of mindset and ready infrastructure, there is much room for both government and private sector to accelerate the implementation of SDGs in Hong Kong and other parts of the world. UNESCAP promotes regional cooperation among its member states and values South-South cooperation in providing both financial capacity building support, thus to addressing the impact of climate change.
World Green Organisation
The World Green Organisation (WGO) is an independent non-governmental organisation concerned with environmental conservation and environmentally related livelihood and economic affairs. We aim to improve the economy, the environment and people's living through science-based public policies and comprehensive community projects, helping all sectors especially the grassroots to meet the challenges and implement the vision of sustainable development. For more information about our organisation, please view our website: http://www.thewgo.org/.
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