The study found that government support and talent development are important in driving the growth of green fintech
HONG KONG and SINGAPORE, Oct. 28, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Today, GoImpact, an ESG and Sustainability education firm, together with The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Business School (“CUHK Business School”) released findings from their work paper, Exploring the Green Fintech Ecosystem of Asia: Insights from Five APEC Economies. This study found that government support plays a significant and important role in accelerating the development of green fintech, while the lack of talent is a common concern in the five economies of the region.
Derived from three elements — environment, finance, and technology — the industry report defines green fintech as financial activities that use green technology that bring better environmental results.
Industry experts from five APEC economies, namely Hong Kong SAR, China (“Hong Kong“), Indonesiathe Republic of Korea (“Korea”), Singapore and Thailand, urging policymakers to establish a conducive environment for green fintech to thrive. According to them, governments can help by offering incentive schemes for startups to develop in this area and lead change by setting sustainable regulatory frameworks and mandating disclosures, reporting, and basics.
The study also suggests that financial institutions must adopt a sustainable agenda to achieve the triple bottom line: profit, people, and planet. Due to the current competitive banking environment and the global lack of green talent, financial institutions must use their unique positions in the business ecosystem to develop additional talent in-house to improve the sustainability agenda, the report further explained.
Key findings from the study include the following:
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Green fintech startups in Asia Has provided many different types of green fintech, such as green digital payment, green digital investment solutions, digital green analytics, green crowdfunding, green risk analysis, green digital lending, green digital asset solutions, and green regtech.
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ESG disclosure regulations play an important role in the development of the green fintech ecosystem. Supporting evidence comes from examples in the Hong Kong SAR case suggesting that green reporting initiatives have grown at a faster pace since the ESG reporting requirement for all listed companies came into force in 2020.
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As the Green FinTech ecosystem develops, cooperation and partnerships will become more mainstream. There have been many successful collaborations with Asiaincluding Project Genesis in Hong Kong SAR, Climate Impact X and Project Greenprint in Singaporeand a carbon offsetting program by Gojek and Jejak.in in Indonesia.
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Governments of Asia recognize the importance of a green economy and put in place road maps and initiatives to help transform the economy to a more sustainable one: for example, Green New Deal in the Republic of Korea and in Thailand Sustainable Finance Initiatives.
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Financial institutions have already provided many green fintech services, including biodiversity-screened equity indices, tokenized carbon credits trading platforms, robotic platforms for ESG investment, green certificates, and ESG credit rating systems.
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Education related to sustainability is necessary to build a mature green FinTech ecosystem. It will raise awareness, drive demand for green finance, and cultivate the talent needed for green FinTech Development in Asia.
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The four-pronged approach required to build a well-functioning green FinTech ecosystem is: increasing demand for green services; increasing the supply of green services; mobilize resources; and strengthen policies.
The study examines the policies, markets, and opportunities related to the role of fintech in driving green finance in five selected APEC economies through desk research, interviews, as well as focus group discussions involving green fintech startups, government and quasi -government organizations, green fintech-related associations, and financial institutions, and found that both Hong Kong and Singapore is in the stage of rising and accelerating maturity level in terms of green fintech development compared to the last two years.
Prof. Kalok ChanWei Lun Professor of Finance at CUHK Business School, said, “It is our great pleasure to partner with GoImpact to explore the Green Fintech ecosystem Asia. This research paper offers an overview of trends and perspectives for five Asian economies regarding the health of the Green Fintech Ecosystem, government initiatives and supporting institutions. As one of the top business schools in AsiaWe will also continue to cultivate talents with a socially responsible mindset and equip them with the skills and knowledge to make a positive impact for the development of the Green Fintech industry.”
Ms. Helen LiCEO and Co-Founder of GoImpactsaid, “The intersection of Capital and Technology is the sweet spot that drives the adaptation of Sustainability. We are proud to collaborate with CUHK Business School in this study that aims to bring a better understanding of the various landscape look at Asia and a more collaborative lens to work together on this timely agenda.”
Li will talk about adopting a proactive ESG approach for inclusive and green finance at the 2022 Hong Kong Fintech Week in October 31, 2022 to share more insights into the global fintech industry.
Downloading Information
Exploring the Green Fintech Ecosystem in Asia Working Paper can be downloaded from: https://bit.ly/3SzGIjf
About GoImpact
Bridging the great divide between talk and action, accelerating the Sustainable Development agenda from intention to implementation – GoImpact means impact made easy and actionable.
GoImpact is an ecosystem created to connect the dots and provide action enablers built around 3 key pillars – GoLearn (education); GoNetwork (structured advocacy); GoInvest (deal flow platform for sustainable investment).
Through our integrated learning platform in partnership with top tier educational institutions and accreditation pathways, we aim to build a common standard of Continuous learning, made easy, for the masses.
Website: https://www.goimpact.today/home
About CUHK Business School
CUHK Business School consists of two schools – Accountancy, and Hotel and Tourism Management – and four departments – Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics, Finance, Management, and Marketing. Built on Hong Kong in 1963, it was the first business school to offer BBA, MBA and Executive MBA programs in the region. Today, CUHK Business School offers 10 undergraduate programs and 20 graduate programs including MBA, EMBA, Master, MSc, MPhil, DBA and Ph.D. The School currently has over 4,600 undergraduate and postgraduate students from over 20 countries/regions.
In the Financial Times Executive MBA Ranking 2022, CUHK EMBA is 24th in the world. In the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2022, the CUHK MBA is ranked 50th. CUHK Business School has the largest number of business alumni (over 40,000) among universities / business schools in Hong Kong – many of whom are key business leaders.
Website: https://www.bschool.cuhk.edu.hk/
SOURCE GoImpact
