A rising demand for corporate sustainability data disclosures, strategy formulation and green finance products issuances has led to the emergence of a “talent war” in Hong Kong as it vies to become a regional green finance centre. As requirements for environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance disclosures by listed firms and climate risks reporting by investment funds are stepped up, talent demand will continue to increase.
Under ESG rules, companies must add environmental, social and governance factors to the financial metrics of their business operations in regulatory disclosures, and consider both in strategic and capital allocation decisions. Based on the sum total of institutions under the purview of various regulators, over 2,500 publicly listed companies, licensed banks and asset managers will have to set up ESG-related positions — or outsource them to consultants — by 2025 in Hong Kong.
As organisations seek to cope with these requirements, the first round of new recruits have largely been senior executives from abroad. A lot of the time, the firms are hiring for the first time and are only hiring one person, so they need the person to be reasonably experienced.
As the accelerated growth of green and sustainable finance is sure to remain a top priority for the Hong Kong government in the foreseeable future, what practical measures can organisations take to increase the local pool of ESG talent? What measures is the government and its ESG steering committees taking to help this cause? What role can Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions play in expanding their ESG programmes to meet this rising demand? What additional steps need to be taken for Hong Kong to adopt a common ESG qualification framework and support additional training in the ESG space?
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