Committee set to promote green finance cooperation

The Green Finance Cooperation Committee of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association announced its establishment in Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan province, on Saturday.

GFCC-AFCA is one of the first cooperation committees established after the founding of the Asian Financial Cooperation Association in July 2017. It is the first Asian green finance cooperation platform initiated by China.

The 2018 International Forum on Green Finance Cooperation was held on Saturday, with representatives from countries that included China, Kazakhstan, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, and international organizations taking part in round table discussions on several topics, including "The Belt and Road Initiative and Green Finance", "Roles of Governments in Green Finance", "Green Finance Practice", and "Application of ESG in Asset Management".

About 200 committee members of GFCC-AFCA and experts and scholars shared their experience on green finance development in the world, especially in Asia.

Yang Zaiping, secretary-general of AFCA, stressed the importance of establishing the Asian Green Finance Cooperation and Development Framework, and announced that Chen Gongyan, chairman of China Galaxy Securities Co Ltd, was elected director of GFCC-AFCA. Sherry Madera, ambassador for Asian Affairs of the City of London, was elected executive deputy director.

Global issues, such as climate warming, environmental pollution and shortage of resources, have become more and more serious, along with technological progress and economic development. High population density and fast economic development have generated greater challenges for Asia in respect to climate, environment and energy.

Promoting the development of green industries has become an inevitable choice for the current economic transformation and upgrading of Asian countries. As a creative financial system arrangement, green finance guides and encourages more social funds to invest in green industries, including environmental protection, energy conservation, clean energy, and clean transportation, to strive for a better ecological environment.

The establishment of GFCC-AFCA constitutes a platform of international cooperation for green finance cooperation in Asia. It will provide more opportunities for communication among different countries and regions on the experience and innovative practices in promoting green practice, enhance green capacity construction, encourage and guide more social capital to invest in green industries, and boost sustainable green development.

A joint declaration was heard, which promised to build consensus on green development through cooperation. Working rules and plans also were passed to focus on green finance standards, green finance assessment and green finance certification, introduction of green finance indexes and carbon trading platforms, promoting regional cooperation on green finance businesses.