Sustainability: Hong Kong university and green finance agency backed by regulators launch emissions calculation tools

The new tools are ‘catered for the local market’, SFC chief Julia Leung says

‘Hong Kong’s financial regulators have provided a tool for SMEs with a simple interface and high-quality greenhouse gas emissions data’: Grace Kwok, chairman and executive director of Allied Sustainability and Environmental Consultants Group

Reading Time:2 minutes

The new tools will enhance the availability and quality of sustainability-related data, thus supporting decarbonisation efforts, SFC’s Julia Leung says. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:00am, 22 Feb 2024

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and a cross-agency green finance body led by the city’s financial watchdogs have launched two new greenhouse gas emissions calculation and estimation tools to help firms with their sustainability reporting.

The tools are now available for free on the website of the Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group, a body established in May 2020 by financial regulators such as the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as well as other government bureaus to accelerate the growth of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong.

The new tools will enhance the availability and quality of sustainability-related data, thus supporting decarbonisation efforts, Julia Leung, the SFC’s CEO, said at the launch event on Wednesday.

“These new tools feature easy navigation and are catered for the local market,” she said. “We encourage market participants to make use of the tools to improve sustainability practices and enhance market transparency.”

The calculation tool enables users, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to calculate greenhouse gas emissions based on their actual activity levels. There are more than 360,000 SMEs in Hong Kong, accounting for more than 98 per cent of enterprises and employing around 45 per cent of the private-sector workforce in the city, according to government figures.

The tool helps companies calculate their Scope 1 emissions, which refers to those emitted by facilities controlled by firms, based on the input of their fuel consumption from business operations. Inputting companies’ electricity bills lets the tool calculate the firms’ Scope 2 emissions, which arise from energy they have bought.