2022-02-23

[Press Release] Hong Kong Green Building Council’s Response to 2022/23 Budget

Hong Kong, 23 February 2022 – The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) welcomes the Financial Secretary’s initiatives on Green and Sustainable Finance, Green Tech and Green City in the 2022/23 Budget released today, driving a transformation to a green and zero-emission economy and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Green and Sustainable Finance 
The Council welcomes the Government in encouraging institutions to conduct green and sustainable relevant investment, financing and certification activities. In addition to the expansion of the Government Green Bond Programme, the issuance of RMB green bonds by the Shenzhen Municipal Government in Hong Kong has also set a leading example for GBA cities to make good use of the Hong Kong market for green financing.  It has further strengthened Hong Kong's functions as a green financial centre.

The Council supports the Government to set out the following initiatives to foster the development of green finance:
 
  • To continuously issue green bonds totalling about US$4.5 billion or equivalent, included retail green bonds which enable the public to directly invest in green projects that provide environmental benefits so as to jointly create a green environment in Hong Kong, and educate the public about green and sustainable development, which matches the Council’s continuous public education work;
  • To lower the minimum loan size from $200 million to $100 million in respect of applications for subsidies for covering external review costs under the Green and Sustainable Finance Grant Scheme;
  • To launch a three‑year Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme

BEAM Plus, certified by the Council, has long been the standard for building projects in many institutional financing projects which certifies projects’ environmental performance level and would greatly enhance stakeholders’ confidence.

Green Tech
The Council welcomes the Government’s additional funding of $200 million into the Green Tech Fund to subsidise projects in priority areas such as net‑zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport and waste reduction, with a view to further promoting decarbonisation and enhancing environmental protection in Hong Kong.

Green City 
The Council supports the Government to implement strategies and measures to reduce carbon emissions in accordance with the Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050, and promote new energy transportation so as to further enhance air quality. An additional sum of $1.5 billion will be injected into the EV‑charging at Home Subsidy Scheme to equip about half of the parking spaces of the existing private residential buildings in Hong Kong with EV charging‑enabling infrastructures. Moreover, the Council supports the overall development of the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy which further enhances Hong Kong to become a green city.

Promoting green development in Hong Kong is the key work of the Council. As the certification body of Hong Kong’s tailored green building rating tool, the Council will strive to increase the number of buildings certificated with BEAM Plus, while continuously working with the Government and leading the industry to accelerate the decarbonisation of Hong Kong’s built environment and move forward to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. 
 

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About the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC)
The Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) is a non-profit, member-led organisation established in 2009 and has become a public body under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance since 2016. The HKGBC strives to promote the standard and development of sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. The HKGBC also aims to raise green building awareness by engaging the government, the industry and the public, and to develop practical solutions for Hong Kong’s unique, subtropical built environment of high-rise, high density urban area, leading Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and to become a world’s exemplar of green building development. The Founding Members of the HKGBC include the Construction Industry Council (CIC), the Business Environment Council (BEC), the BEAM Society Limited (BSL) and the Professional Green Building Council (PGBC).

To learn more about the HKGBC, please visit http://www.hkgbc.org.hk.

 

Press contacts
Hong Kong Green Building Council

Heidi HUI
Head of Marketing
Tel: (852) 3994 8833
Email: heidi.hui@hkgbc.org.hk		  


Lucy SO
Marketing & PR Manager
Tel: (852) 3994 8832
Email: lucy.so@hkgbc.org.hk