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Business of climate change
BusinessBanking & Finance

Climate change: BlackRock, HSBC, Hong Kong officials urge firms to seize ‘biggest investment opportunity out there’

  • Hong Kong’s environment secretary calls on companies to step up investment in green finance, hydrogen, biofuels and low-carbon technology
  • Hong Kong is poised to channel needed investments to sustainable projects in Asia, as well as the Belt and Road countries, HKMA CEO says

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Hong Kong Island is reflected in taped windows in Tsim Sha Tsui as super typhoon Saola hit the city on September 1, 2023. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
Martin ChoiandEric Ng

Businesses should step up their efforts to capture opportunities arising from the climate transition and leverage Hong Kong’s position as an international financing centre to fund such projects, according to the city’s environment secretary and other conference speakers.

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“There is an increasing demand for innovative solutions, products and services in various industries … including green finance, the hydrogen economy, biofuels, low-carbon technology, materials, products and services,” Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan told the ReThink HK sustainability conference on Thursday.
Tse said that Hong Kong recorded its hottest July day on record last year, while July this year also saw one of the hottest temperatures ever recorded. This was followed by the biggest hourly rainfall on record and major flooding in many districts last week, with additional heavy rain causing damage on Thursday morning.
These events underscore that “climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing our planet today”, Tse said.
Traffic backs up behind stranded vehicles on Lung Cheung Road in Hong Kong’s Wong Tai Sin district during a black rainstorm warning on September 8, 2023. Photo: Edmond So
Traffic backs up behind stranded vehicles on Lung Cheung Road in Hong Kong’s Wong Tai Sin district during a black rainstorm warning on September 8, 2023. Photo: Edmond So

“All these events sent a clear signal that extreme weather events are becoming the norm,” he said, adding the government has committed to invest US$30 billion over the next 15 to 20 years on climate mitigation and adaptation, after spending US$6 billion in the past decade.

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Asset manager BlackRock sees the transition to net zero as “the single biggest investment opportunity out there over the next decade”, said Michael Dennis, the asset manager’s managing director and head of alternatives strategy and capital markets in Asia-Pacific.

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