【ESG News】Global Trends Biweekly Newsletter Issue 57 (2026.4.13-2026.4.26)

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Hong Kong ESG trends

Report on “Navigating the Green Shift: Opportunities and the Evolving Landscape of Transition Finance”

The Hong Kong Institute for Monetary and Financial Research (HKIMR), the research arm of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance (AoF), released a new Applied Research report, titled “Navigating the Green Shift: Opportunities and the Evolving Landscape of Transition Finance” on 17 April.

The report reviews the global transition finance landscape, examining the importance of multistakeholder collaborations and international best practices in preventing greenwashing and maintaining transparency. Based on a survey and in-depth interviews commissioned by the HKIMR, the study captures insights from a diverse range of global stakeholders—including financial institutions and multilateral organisations—offering a detailed analysis of the current state, emerging trends, and future trajectory of the international transition finance ecosystem.

Source: https://www.hkma.gov.hk/gb_chi/news-and-media/press-releases/2026/04/20260417-3/ 

Lianhe Green Insights

Released by the HKIMR, the transitional finance report clearly outlines the global development landscape of green transitional finance. Nearly 60% of institutions have made relevant layouts, and over 70% are optimistic about market growth, with the Asia-Pacific region taking a leading and proactive role. Rooted in market practices, the report identifies key trends including specialised financial instruments and diversified collaborative models. It offers practical guidance for Hong Kong to consolidate its position as a sustainable financial hub, prevent greenwashing and strengthen regional cooperation, thereby advancing the coordinated development of green transition and economic growth.

Earth Forum 2026: Positioning Hong Kong as Asia’s Green and Sustainable Financial Services Hub

Hong Kong, 22 April 2026 – Friends of the Earth (HK) (FoE (HK)), the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF) jointly hosted Earth Forum 2026. Under the theme of Positioning Hong Kong as Asia’s Green and Sustainable Financial Services Hub, the Forum focused on discussions on how Hong Kong can strengthen its status as a leading regional provider of professional green and sustainable financial services, covering areas including sustainability assurance, climate risk insurance, consultancy, asset management, legal expertise and ESG talent development.

Source: https://www.fsdc.org.hk/en/media/earth-forum-2026-positioning-hong-kong-as-asia-s-green-and-sustainable-financial-services-hub-1 

Lianhe Green Insights

This Forum highlighted specialised sectors including climate risk insurance and sustainability assurance, revealing a differentiated development pathway for Hong Kong’s green finance — shifting from passive capital matching to active climate risk management. As an international risk management hub, Hong Kong may leverage its mature reinsurance market and robust legal framework to pioneer cutting-edge tools such as climate risk modelling, catastrophe bonds and transition risk stress testing. By delivering credible risk pricing and credit enhancement services for green assets, Hong Kong can further solidify its position as a regional hub, while addressing the critical gap of risk quantification within the global green finance system and building an irreplaceable competitive edge.

International ESG trends

UK Announces Abolition of Carbon Price Support (CPS) Tax by 2028

Dan Tomlinson, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, has formally confirmed that the UK government will abolish the "Carbon Price Support" (CPS) tax starting April 2028. Implementation of this tax began in 2013, designed to drive the power system away from high-carbon coal-fired generation by increasing the cost of fossil fuel electricity production.

The government maintains that the CPS has fulfilled its historical mission and is no longer "fit for purpose." With the total shutdown of the UK’s last coal-fired power station in 2024, coal has completely exited the power mix. Future carbon pricing will primarily be driven by the more mature Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which features stricter caps, to facilitate decarbonization. This move aims to simplify the tax system and alleviate electricity cost pressures on households and businesses. Furthermore, the savings from the abolition of the CPS will be utilized to support the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS), providing electricity bill relief for the manufacturing sector to bolster UK industrial competitiveness amidst energy volatility while advancing "2030 Clean Power" goals.

Source: https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-statements/detail/2026-04-16/hcws1519  

Lianhe Green Insights

This policy adjustment reflects a profound transformation in UK energy governance, moving from "administrative intervention" toward "market stability." The abolition of the CPS tax is not a retreat from climate goals, but rather an institutional validation of decarbonization achievements.

Now that coal power is a matter of history, continued layering of tax burdens would not only yield diminishing marginal returns but could also damage industrial competitiveness and fuel inflation. The government’s choice to "let go" at this juncture effectively transfers the primary authority of carbon pricing to the more flexible ETS, seeking to construct a leaner and more efficient cost framework for the post-coal era.

Mainland China ESG trends

Assessment Measures for Carbon Peak and Neutrality

Recently, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Measures for the Comprehensive Evaluation and Assessment of Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"). The Measures establish an indicator system consisting of 5 control indicators and 9 supporting indicators.

·          Control Indicators: Total carbon emissions, reduction in carbon emission intensity, total coal consumption, total petroleum consumption, and the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption.

·          Supporting Indicators: Representative indicators that support carbon peak and carbon neutrality in areas such as energy conservation, industry, urban-rural construction, transportation, public institutions, and carbon emission rights trading.

Source: https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202604/content_7066694.htm

Lianhe Green Insights

The release of the "Measures" marks the first time that "dual control" requirements for carbon emissions have been incorporated into intra-Party regulations. This signifies that "Dual Carbon" work is shifting from top-level design toward hard institutional constraints, achieving a fundamental transition from the dual control of energy consumption to the dual control of carbon emissions. The Measures establish that assessment results will be directly linked to mechanisms such as circulars of criticism, regulatory interviews, and the selection and appointment of officials. This means the green transformation resolve and implementation strength of local governments will face unprecedented institutional pressure, which will in turn exert profound systemic impacts on energy structure transformation, industrial upgrade paths, and the development of carbon markets.

Opinions of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on High-Level and High-Quality Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction

On April 11, the Opinions on High-Level and High-Quality Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction (hereinafter the "Opinions") were released. The Opinions make specific deployments regarding the synergistic promotion of energy conservation, carbon reduction, and green transformation; the vigorous advancement of energy conservation and carbon reduction in key areas; the further strengthening of supervision and management; and the enhancement of support and guarantees for energy conservation and carbon reduction work.

The Opinions require consistent adherence to the "Conservation First" policy, integrating energy conservation and carbon reduction throughout the entire process and all aspects of economic and social development. They call for performing energy conservation and carbon reduction work at a higher level and with higher quality, resolutely curbing the unreasonable growth of total energy consumption, continuously improving energy resource output efficiency, and effectively reducing carbon emissions from the source to provide strong protection for achieving carbon peak and neutrality and accelerating the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development.

Source: https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202604/content_7066615.htm  

Lianhe Green Insights

The publication of the "Opinions" marks a new stage for China’s energy conservation and carbon reduction work, moving from "volume control" to "simultaneous improvement of quality and efficiency." Unlike the previous focus on energy intensity, these "Opinions" emphasize "synergistic promotion" and "carbon reduction at the source," weaving energy conservation into the entire process of economic and social development. This requires local governments to balance industrial transformation and energy output efficiency while curbing unreasonable growth in energy consumption. In the future, the regulatory focus will shift from single-indicator assessments to systemic comprehensive governance, presenting a more severe challenge to the precision management capabilities of high-energy-consuming industries.