In recent years, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become a key issue for governments and capital markets around the world, and green finance such as ESG investment has continued to rise.
On July 24th, at the 2021 Beijing Summit of the Global Wealth Management Forum with the theme of “Global Green Recovery and ESG Investment Opportunities”, President Fan Yifei and Liang Tao, member of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, respectively spoke on ESG investment. 
On July 24, at the 2021 Beijing Summit of the Global Wealth Management Forum, the central bank’s deputy governor Fan Yifei gave a keynote speech Photographed by reporter Zhou Di p>
Fan Yifei: Guiding long-term funds such as pension, insurance, and social security into the ESG investment market
in Under the guidance of the dual carbon goals, China’s green finance has developed rapidly. According to statistics, at the end of 2020, China’s domestic and foreign currency green loan balance is about 12 trillion yuan, ranking first in the world; China’s green bond stock is about 800 billion yuan, ranking second in the world.
In response to this, Fan Yifei, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China, said that ESG investment has become a key issue for green and low-carbon development. The two paths of “top-down” and “bottom-up” are combined to vigorously guide and encourage ESG investment.
Although China’s green finance development has made some achievements, in Fan Yifei’s view, my country’s green finance There are still deficiencies in institutional development and other aspects.
Fan Yifei said that policy measures and mechanism construction will be implemented simultaneously to cultivate ESG investors. In terms of incentive policies, continue to explore fiscal and tax policies including subsidies, interest discounts, tax reductions and exemptions, as well as regulatory policies to enhance the attractiveness of green credit and green bonds. Strengthen and improve the green financial evaluation mechanism, enhance the enthusiasm of market institutions to allocate green assets, and actively promote the marketBuild and promote the combination of ESG investment and fixed income products, enrich the application fields of ESG investment, guide pension, insurance, social security and other long-term funds with certain social attributes to enter the ESG investment market, and incorporate it into the evaluation system to enrich the source of funds for the green bond market .
In addition, Fan Yifei also stated that the central bank will improve the green finance standard system and promote the integration with international standards; improve information disclosure requirements, strengthen market restraint mechanisms, and strengthen the market Ecological construction, and give full play to the bridge role of intermediary agencies.
He said that on the basis of respecting my country’s energy endowments and industrial structure, the central bank will study and formulate green bond standards that are in line with international standards to help the development of global green finance. We will continue to strengthen the compulsory and standardization of environmental information disclosure by financial institutions, securities issuers, and public departments, establish mandatory and unified information disclosure standards, cover various financing entities, refine environmental information disclosure requirements, and explore the establishment of information sharing mechanisms. Facilitate financial institutions to obtain corporate carbon emissions data. It will also continue to regulate the behavior of intermediary agencies, carry out the filing of evaluation and certification agencies, and promote the unification of standards in the evaluation and certification industry through market-based reviews and cross-checks on business quality.
Liang Tao: You can’t simply step on the traditional high-carbon industries and squander loans in an aggressive manner.
At the summit, the Vice-Chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Chairman Liang Tao also talked about the difficulties and challenges facing my country’s green finance and the role that ESG investment will play.
Liang Tao said that the current decisive role of the market in the green allocation of financial resources has not been fully played; the synergy between the government and the market that drives the sustainable development of green finance Not yet obvious; the pricing of green asset products and services lacks corresponding standards, strategies and tools; financing prices cannot yet comprehensively reflect capital costs, risk bargaining, and ecological value; financial institutions’ ESG strategic planning and application levels are uneven; responsible investment concepts Education needs to be strengthened; environmental and social risk management methods, tools, and information disclosure need to be further improved; there are insufficient professional capabilities in green finance, and there is an urgent need for improvement in product innovation, talent building, and risk management.
Liang Tao said that green finance must give full play to the strong momentum of green finance to support the green recovery of the economy. He put forward five suggestions:
First, grasp the right direction and strengthen overall coordination. It is necessary to accurately understand the national carbon emission reduction and economic green and low-carbon transition policies.Han, grasp the rhythm and intensity of financial support for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. It is necessary to analyze the financial needs of economic low-carbon transformation and development from a macro perspective, reasonably calculate the risk exposure of high-carbon industry assets, and adjust its asset structure in a steady and orderly manner.
Financial institutions should fully consider factors such as the actual economic and social development of our country and the difficulty of the phased transformation of the development of various industries, and closely follow the carbon emission reduction policies formulated by the relevant departments.< strong>Don’t simply step on the traditional high-carbon industries, take out loans, suspend loans, and not renew their crops when they expire. We must ensure our own business is sustainable and actively support the foundation of the green and low-carbon transformation of relevant companies. In order to avoid “talking about carbon discoloration”, provide necessary financial support for traditional businesses. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen coordination and cooperation with other industries to form a strong synergy that effectively supports the steady and healthy development of the real economy.
Second, improve the policy system and optimize financial services. Improve the policy framework for green finance supervision, improve the statistical monitoring and evaluation system, formulate green financial information disclosure standards, provide guidance for green finance to support economic recovery, incorporate the progress of green transformation into the daily supervision and evaluation of bancassurance institutions, and create a healthy green finance The orderly development of the policy environment encourages banking institutions to expand the scope of credit collateralization, innovate financial products and service methods, enrich green insurance products, explore differentiated insurance rate mechanisms, and improve risk protection capabilities for green economic activities.
Third, practice the concept of responsible investment and prevent financial risks. Guide bancassurance institutions to implement ESG responsible investment concepts in all aspects of strategy, tasks, processes, management, etc., and encourage financial institutions to consider environmental, climate, and social issues in credit decision-making, loan approval, capital prices, risk management, internal control, and asset portfolios. Risk is considered as a parameter. Strengthen the corporate governance of financial institutions, pay attention to the application of ESG responsible investment concepts and be systematic, integrated, and dynamic, coordinate the relationship with stakeholders, and enhance the core competitiveness of financial institutions.
Fourth, strengthen incentives and constraints, and enhance professional capabilities. Encourage financial institutions to strengthen internal incentives and constraints, optimize performance appraisal systems, implement differentiated management requirements, increase the promotion of green and low-carbon investment and financing projects, supervise banking and insurance institutions to implement relevant industrial policy requirements, and improve customer credit management, Incorporate carbon performance and carbon pricing into the credit management process, strengthen professional training and team building in green finance, establish a fault-tolerant and corrective mechanism, motivate employees to do a good job in green financial services, and explore their own green transformation path.
Fifth, promote international cooperation and promote mutual benefit and win-win results. Strengthen international exchanges on green financeCooperation and play an active role in the formulation of international rules. Tell the story of China well, improve the ability and level of my country’s financial institutions to go global and overseas capital operations, practice the concepts of responsible investment and value investment, form a joint force for green finance development, improve the quality and efficiency of the two-way opening of the financial industry, and strengthen the “one belt” Countries and regions along the “One Road” have in-depth cooperation in green finance.