香港地球之友董事麥礎允 / Serena Mak, Board Member of Friends of the Earth (HK)
很多金融從業員一直討論，企業要達到可持續金融發展，有需要進行更理想、更高透明度的報告及披露。為達成此目標，訂立一個標準設定是十分重要的一環，當然，不同持分者對這些標準有不同的側重也不足為奇。甚至從更基本出發，各國看綠色金融的組成也有所不同。
其中一個例子為煤炭項目融資。一些機構強調煤炭不是可持續發展的資源，例如世界銀行在2013年發表了一份能源工業發展方向文件，以解決化石燃料的使用問題。但與此同時，在一些國家投資「潔淨煤炭技術」，可符合當地發行綠色債券的標準。
這究竟是好是壞？我認為，在金融業和政府正完善綠色金融生態系統的同時，公眾意識正在增強已經值得鼓舞。雖然爭論時有發生，但我們應該明白一個行業的發展必會經歷「出牙期」階段，最重要是不能忘記我們有共同的目標──為了自己及下一代，為我們可持續發展的環境作出貢獻。
Many financial practitioners have discussed the need for better, more transparent reporting and disclosure for corporates on sustainable finance. To achieve this goal, standard setting is an important component, and it is not surprising that different stakeholders will have different preferences on such standards. Even more fundamentally, what constitutes ‘green finance’ can also be different amongst countries.
One such example is financing in coal projects. Some organizations have taken views that coal is not sustainable – e.g. the World Bank has published an Energy Sector Directions Paper back in 2013 to address the use of fossil fuels. At the same time, investing in ‘cleaner coal technologies’ in some countries would meet the criteria of a green bond issuance in these locations.
Is this essentially good or bad? I think whilst the finance industry and governments shape up the ecosystem of Green Finance, it is encouraging to see that the awareness is increasing. Whilst there will be debates or even arguments, let’s understand that evolution of an industry will naturally go through ‘teething periods’, and let’s also not forget that we all have same goal – to contribute to environmental sustainability, for ourselves, and also for our next generations.
