The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) today welcomes the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited’s (SEHK) publication of its consultation conclusions on the enhancement of climate-related disclosure requirements for listed companies in Hong Kong.

The new climate-related disclosure requirements, which will be implemented in phases starting from 1 January 2025, is the first step to align local sustainability disclosure requirements with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards published by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), as part of Hong Kong’s overall strategy to develop a comprehensive sustainability disclosure ecosystem. SEHK has also published an Implementation Guidance to assist listed companies in complying with the new requirements (Notes 1 and 2).

“The new regime on climate-related disclosures will give listed companies in Hong Kong a head-start in speaking the common international language of the ISSB to the investing public and capital markets.  A balanced, proportionate and phased approach has been adopted when devising the new regime, notably taking into account a majority of Hong Kong-listed companies are mainly from Mainland China or have businesses on the Mainland and in Asia,” said Ms Julia Leung, the SFC’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Climate-related reporting by listed companies will address investors’ needs for more relevant, consistent and comparable information as climate transition finance in Asia moves into a high gear and Hong Kong’s role as a leading international sustainable finance centre becomes even more important.”

To achieve the goal of introducing ISSB-aligned Hong Kong sustainability reporting standards, the SFC will continue to work closely with the Government, SEHK, and other relevant stakeholders to provide a transparent and well-defined pathway on sustainability reporting for businesses (Note 3).

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Notes:

1.The new Listing Rules requirements are developed based on the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S2 Climate-related Disclosures published by the ISSB in June 2023 while the Implementation Guidance contains references to IFRS S1 General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information.

2.In March 2024, the HKSAR Government issued a Vision Statement on developing a comprehensive ecosystem for sustainability disclosure in Hong Kong.

3.The Hong Kong Green and Sustainable Finance Cross-Agency Steering Group has set up a dedicated working group to develop Hong Kong’s roadmap on the appropriate adoption of the ISSB Standards, which is co-led by the SFC and the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau, with members comprising other financial regulators, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and stakeholders including the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA). The HKICPA will develop the Hong Kong sustainability reporting standards.