Useful Resources
Industry Reports
In this section, we make two special reports related to ESG integration available. These reports were produced under the financial support of FoE(HK) for the public in order to promote ESG integration. The third report is jointly produced by PolyU CESEF Center and SynTao Green Finance based on a published paper on ESG integration. Enjoy reading!
Presentation Files
During 2019, PolyU CESEF Center organized several seminars and one conference for the PASS project “Educating Accounting Professionals on How to Adopt Green Finance in Capital Projects“. For each cluster, we provide an introduction to describe the key elements in each category. We thank all the presenters for contributing their valuable resources and time towards the presentation materials so that the event participants and public can download them for free. We sincerely hope that you will find these materials useful.
Cluster 1: Green Finance
The Green Finance cluster has two sections. Section A (GF.A) has two presentation files. Jonathan Drew from HSBC and Hannah Routh from Deloitte China provide a basic understanding of green finance. Both Jonathan and Hannah are passionate about saving the planet by utilizing the green power of money. First, Jonathan reviews the carbon dioxide issue and the investment scope of green bonds. Then Hannah explains the climate issues under the ESG integration framework and the roles of various green organizations including the HKGFA, FSDC, and TCFD. This set of materials allow you to understand climate issues and green finance from the perspectives of an investment banker and a Big4 partner.
Section B (GF.B) has three presentation materials. This set revolves around the theme of green buildings. We have presenters from three well-known property developers in Hong Kong. They are Ellie Tang from New World Development, Kevin Ng from Henderson Land, and Raymond Yau from Swire Properties. Each of the presenters showcase their own green buildings and the challenges involved. Readers can learn about green buildings in Hong Kong and some technical details on measuring greenness for buildings. In addition, the environmental and financial benefits of green buildings are also being discussed. Readers who are in the accounting profession may find these materials on green capital projects very refreshing and interesting.
Cluster 2: ESG 1
There are two sections in this cluster. Section A (ESG1.A) focuses on ESG integration by renowned asset management executives and professionals including Victoria Mio from Robeco, Jean-Louis Nakamura and Odile Lange-Broussy from Lombard Odier, and Stephen Andrews from BlackRock. First, Louis Cheng, the PASS project coordinator gives an overview on the dynamic relationship between green bonds and ESG integration, and the challenges in achieving sustainability through benchmarking. Then each of the industry speakers provides a pragmatic discussion on how their firms pursue ESG integration. The readers will be benefited by these presentation materials in terms of knowing the unique approach and methodology used by these firms in achieving ESG integration. Readers will also realize that eventhough ESG is the governing framework, the emphasis of sub-factors in the areas of E, S, and G vary substantially among these firms, making it very informative for practitioners to choose their own preference towards environmental, social or governance in achieving financial returns.
Section B of this cluster consists of a wonderful collection of materials on market development of green finance and ESG in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Louis Cheng, Stephen Wong from OHKF, and Peiyuan Guo from Syntao Green Finance provide the latest development in terms of market conditions, regulatory challenges, industry concerns and the way forward for the future development. For readers who are interested in general information about the market and opinion from industry professionals, this set of materials will be valuable for their learning.
Section A (ESG1.A): ESG Integration for Investments
Section B (ESG1.B): Market Development and Industry Analysis
Cluster 3: ESG 2
This cluster consists of 3 separate sections. The first section (ESG2.A) showcases various methodologies for ESG evaluation from data providers and rating agencies including MSCI, Morningstar (Sustainalytics), and S&P Global Ratings. In addition, Louis Cheng and David Broadstock provide interesting findings on certain concerns and misinformation from listed firms’ ESG reports as well as unique features and differences of various ESG data available in the market. Section B (ESG2.B) contains a collection of presentation materials on analytics of ESG reports from the Big4 consulting units and from a former HSBC executive. Finally, in order to learn about ESG reporting, we should hear from listed firm executives on how they prepare for the report and the challenges they face. Therefore, in section C (ESG2.C), we are proud to have four distinguished listed firms to share with us on this topic. They are Kit Law from CLP Group, Ricky Szeto from Hung Fook Tong, Guy Look from Sa Sa and Suki Wong from Anta. These materials should be valuable for readers who want to see the mechanism and process of producing ESG reports.
