Hong Kong is stepping up efforts to harness its financial strengths to support the nation’s drive toward carbon neutrality, positioning itself as a key hub for cross‑border carbon trading and green finance.
A policy research roundtable in Beijing, which concluded over the weekend, was co-hosted by the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit (CEPU) and the Policy Research Center for Environment and Economy under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. Bringing together major national stakeholders, the meeting examined the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s role in international carbon markets and mapped out the city’s plan to facilitate the nation’s “dual carbon” goals in 2030 and 2060 respectively.
China’s participation in achieving international carbon goals — against the backdrop of worsening climate risks — includes a commitment to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.
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Stephen Wong Yuen-shan, head of the CEPU, said Hong Kong’s unique position under the “one country, two systems” principle, its status as an international financial center and its common law framework equip the city to help strengthen the financial attributes of carbon markets. By leveraging its experience in market rules, contract design, dispute resolution and cross border capital flows, Hong Kong is expected to act as a bridge between domestic carbon assets and global investors, and to support the nation’s participation in global carbon market rule-making.
Hong Kong’s carbon-market push already features prominently in the 2025 Policy Address, which links carbon-trading initiatives with the city’s role as a “go global” platform, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the growth of green and sustainable finance.
Current measures include expanding carbon accounting and verification services, working with Greater Bay Area exchanges on commodity and carbon trading, piloting cross border settlement arrangements, and working with mainland regulators on standards for voluntary carbon credits and the full chain of registration, trading and settlement.
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These policies are designed both to serve the nation’s ecological civilization agenda and to power the city’s own high-quality development by accelerating the integration of green finance and the real economy.
Amid a “green” push across Belt and Road Initiative partner countries, Chinese enterprises have ramped up investment in low-carbon energy and infrastructure projects, generating verifiable emissions reductions that can be converted into carbon credits; meanwhile, forest-rich economies can monetize carbon sinks through international trading, according to a report by the Policy Research Center.
Recent moves by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing to expand cooperation with overseas exchanges, including in Latin America, further underline Hong Kong’s determination to tap its financial prowess to facilitate the State’s carbon-neutral journey and deepen China’s participation in global climate governance, according to Wong.
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The HKSAR also aims to export its professional services to support the internationalization of China Certified Emission Reductions, and to use new “go global” task forces to connect with outbound enterprises and multilateral green alliances.