To help build an international green finance hub, the 2023 Green Finance North Bund Forum will open on December 10

Addressing climate change has become an important issue of global concern, and green and sustainable development has become an important path to improve climate governance and achieve the "dual carbon" goal. The recent Central Financial Work Conference stressed the need to use more financial resources to promote green development and other aspects, and to do a good job in green finance, and the ongoing United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) has also injected positive signals and strong impetus into global climate cooperation and governance.

As an international financial center, Shanghai is accelerating its development into an international green finance hub and actively promoting the development of green finance. In order to better serve the implementation of the "dual carbon" strategy, promote green and low-carbon transformation, and promote high-quality economic and social development, the 2023 Green Finance North Bund Forum, supported by the Shanghai Hongkou District People's Government and the Shanghai Municipal Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau, hosted by the Green Finance 60 Forum, and organized by the Shanghai Jinsinan Institute of Financial Research, will open in Shanghai on December 10.

Top-level design guidance to promote the development of green finance into a new stage

Since the "dual carbon" goal was proposed, the "1+N" policy framework system has been continuously improved, and the planned and step-by-step action to promote the "dual carbon" goal has also been actively carried out.

In September this year, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) signed a framework agreement on cooperation in carbon emission statistics and accounting to jointly promote the construction of a national greenhouse gas emission factor database. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued a pilot construction plan for carbon peaking, and jointly issued opinions on accelerating the establishment of a product carbon footprint management system with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, which will further play an important role in helping enterprises save energy and reduce carbon emissions, promote green consumption, and expand the supply of low-carbon products. The PBOC attaches great importance to the construction of a green finance standard system, continuously deepens the requirements for sustainable information disclosure, and will strengthen the top-level design of financial support for green and low-carbon development, focus on promoting the development and effective connection between green finance and transition finance, and systematically improve the financial system's ability to manage and prevent climate risks. 

Under the guidance of the policy system, green finance has formed a multi-level and diversified market dominated by green credit and green bonds, and has achieved remarkable results in helping the high-quality development of the real economy. According to data released by the People's Bank of China, as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, China's green loan balance was 28.58 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 36.8%, ranking first in the world, and the balance of the domestic green bond market was 1.98 trillion yuan, ranking second in the world. At the same time, the issuance of green financial products such as green insurance and ESG funds is also gradually accelerating, Wind data shows that as of October 29, there were 488 ESG products in the market, with a total net value of 525.615 billion yuan.

As the largest economic center city in China, Shanghai is accelerating its efforts to build an international green finance hub, continuously deepening green finance innovation, improving the green evaluation and certification system and green benefit accounting methods, actively participating in the formulation of international standards in related fields, and providing diversified green investment and financing support for industrial development. The Several Provisions on the Development of Green Finance in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, which came into effect in July 2022, serves as local legislation to lead the reform and innovation of green finance in Pudong New Area, help build a demonstration model of green finance with Shanghai characteristics, and provide important support for the establishment and improvement of an economic system of green, low-carbon and circular development.

Industry leaders discussed and explored the path of green finance innovation and development

At present, the exploration and practice of green finance also faces many problems, such as the difference between China's green finance standard system and international mainstream standards, the matching degree of green supply of financial institutions and the demand structure of industrial chain transformation needs to be improved, the quality of sustainable information disclosure is insufficient, and the path of ESG localization is still being explored. Therefore, how to better play the role of financial institutions in green transformation and low-carbon upgrading of the industrial chain, improve the quality of sustainable information disclosure, and accelerate the localization of ESG practice need to gather resources from all sectors of society to systematically research and promote.

In this context, the 2023 Green Finance North Bund Forum is based in Shanghai, focusing on green finance, committed to building an authoritative and forward-looking platform for the exchange of ideas, creating an open and pragmatic multi-cooperation platform, and drawing a grand plan for the financial industry to contribute to the low-carbon development of society.

According to the reporter's understanding, this forum lasted one day, and set up a number of links closely related to the theme of "practicing the concept of green and low-carbon development and building an international green finance hub". Scholars and leaders from regulatory authorities, domestic and foreign scholars, financial institutions and industry experts will gather together to conduct in-depth exchanges on topics such as green and low-carbon transformation and exploration under global climate change, the construction and improvement of China's green financial system, sustainable information disclosure and carbon accounting, and the construction of localized ESG standard system through keynote speeches and roundtable dialogues, so as to provide innovative vitality for green finance, contribute wisdom and good policies to the low-carbon economy, and help Shanghai accelerate its construction of an international green finance hub.

The "Research Report on Climate Information Disclosure and Carbon Accounting in the Banking Industry (2023)" will also be released at the forum. The report was jointly developed and published by the Shanghai Jinsinan Institute for Financial Research and the Duke Kunshan University Sustainable Investment Program, and jointly released by China Information Technology. The report constructs an evaluation index system from multiple dimensions, and uses a combination of "AI model + artificial" to evaluate the quality of banks' climate information disclosure and carbon accounting. By summarizing and analyzing the experience and challenges of domestic and foreign banks in carrying out climate information disclosure and carbon accounting, this paper puts forward targeted suggestions for improving the quality of climate information disclosure and promoting carbon accounting for investment and financing. In the context of the gradual improvement and stricter requirements for climate information disclosure of financial institutions, the report provides a useful reference for banks to carry out high-quality climate information disclosure, manage climate risks more effectively, and grasp climate change opportunities.

The organizers expressed the hope that this forum will provide suggestions for the innovative development of green finance through the collision of diverse wisdoms, promote the steady and far-reaching development of green and sustainable development with the power of thought, help achieve the national "double carbon" strategic goal, and promote high-quality economic and social development.