Our founder, Ben McQuhae, was invited to moderate a panel discussion hosted by the Hong Kong Green Finance Association (HKGFA) on 10 March 2023 to discuss greenwashing risk, regulation and mitigation with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Link REIT and expert Dr. Daniel Cash.
It was concluded that:
- Greenwashing is alive and well in Hong Kong (100% of the live audience agreed).
- There are many faces of greenwashing and the high-risk areas include financial products, advertising, marketing, and also competence.
- Greenwashing presents risks to perpetrators – see some recent reputational horror stories in EU and UK – but the main risk of greenwashing is that it undermines our collective efforts to decarbonise.
- Tackling greenwashing is therefore important for every international financial centre (IFC), and essential for aspiring green IFCs such as Hong Kong.
- Everyone needs to understand the issues and risks and develop mitigation strategies – naturally there’s a hugely important role for regulators and smart regulation in this – and regulatory developments in EU and UK could provide a ready-made roadmap to inform Hong Kong – in a similar way that TCFD and SFDR has done.
- As always, coordination is going to be key.
If you missed it, catch the recording of the panel discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn5_8PwBHYw.
