International Cooperation Drives Global Sustainable Finance Development

Sharing China’s Best Practices in Fintech: A Recap of the Green Finance Committee Annual Meeting with Gracie Sun

The Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking (Green Finance Committee Annual Meeting) met in Tongzhou, Beijing, for the 2024 Annual Meeting, marking ten years since the committee’s establishment in 2015. The event released 25 outcomes this year. Leaders from the People’s Bank of China, major financial institutions, and more than 100 experts from nearly 60 institutions delivered speeches at the meeting. The participants held in-depth discussions on important topics such as green financial product innovation, regional green finance reform, international cooperation, sustainable information disclosure, green inclusive finance, financial support for biodiversity conservation, climate risks, transition finance, and sustainable development for women.

Gracie Sun, Senior Advisor and Managing Director of the Green Finance Center at the Paulson Institute, shared Fintech Facilitates Green Finance Development in China: Cases and Outlooks (2024 Report) during the release session and participated as a guest speaker in the International Practices of Green Finance sub-forum. Gracie Sun presented the key findings of the Fintech report, which reviews the status of fintech supporting China’s green finance development, summarizes how fintech facilitates the development of green finance and transition finance and provides policy recommendations. The cases presented in the report are expected to be promoted in China, help the international community better understand China’s innovative practices in green finance, and provide valuable experiences and insights for emerging economies in integrating fintech and sustainable finance. The recommendations emphasize that the government should lead the establishment of a data-sharing platform on green finance, deepen the application of fintech in green finance scenarios, and encourage the rapid expansion of fintech innovations in green finance to other emerging areas.

Since 2020, the Paulson Institute’s Green Finance Center, in collaboration with the Institute of Finance and Sustainability, has conducted ongoing research on fintech application scenarios and cases driving China’s green finance development. This report is the fifth in the annual series. Guided by the Research Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, this research project is part of its 2024 Sustainable Finance Research and supports the G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG).

As a guest of the Forum, Gracie Sun participated in the sub-forum on International Practices of Green Finance. Participants included leaders and experts from the National Information Centre, Bank of China, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and Neuberger Berman. Gracie noted that the global sustainable finance market continues to expand and cover more areas. Institutional investors increasingly integrate sustainable finance into their business practices, developing net-zero plans, transition roadmaps, and targets. This includes optimizing institutional sustainable governance, improving levels of sustainable disclosure, and exploring transition technology pathways for high-carbon industries.

Gracie Sun emphasized the importance of international cooperation in developing sustainable finance, “saying it plays a vital role in promoting global sustainable finance. Governments worldwide are promoting investment and cooperation in sustainable development by setting international standards and coordinating policies, providing a transparent and manageable policy environment for investors, attracting more green investment, and advancing global sustainable development.” Gracie also presented the Paulson Institute’s recent efforts to promote green finance and strengthen international cooperation.

At the opening of the annual meeting, Wang Xin, Director General of the Research Bureau of the People’s Bank of China, delivered a speech on behalf of Lu Lei, Deputy Governor of the People’s Bank of China. Lu Lei said that since its establishment, the Green Finance Committee has made remarkable achievements in promoting green finance concepts, researching green finance policies, and promoting green finance product innovation, resulting in significant research results on cutting-edge topics. He stated that in the next stage, the People’s Bank of China will mobilize more resources from institutions and platforms such as the Green Finance Committee to promote the development of green finance. The key priorities are to improve the green finance standard system, encourage financial institutions to enhance sustainable information disclosure, strengthen financial incentives for green and low-carbon transition, increase financial support for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and deepen international cooperation on green finance.

At the annual meeting, Ma Jun, Chairman of the Green Finance Committee of the China Society for Finance and Banking, presented the 2024 Work Report and 2025 Outlook of the Green Finance Committee. Ma Jun reviewed the achievements of the committee’s seven working groups over the past year in transition finance, environmental information disclosure, product innovation, international experience research, financial support for biodiversity, sustainable risk analysis, and financial support for women’s sustainable development. Looking ahead to next year, the committee will focus on seven key areas:

  1. Supporting the development of national transition finance standards
  2. Accelerating sustainability disclosure by large corporations and financial institutions
  3. Promoting innovation in green finance products and services
  4. Expanding and improving liquidity in the carbon finance market
  5. Promoting the application of the Sustainable Finance Common Ground Taxonomy
  6. Researching financial support for biodiversity
  7. Expanding the impact of the Alliance for Sustainable Investment Capacity Building

The Paulson Institute remains committed to building green finance systems and market-based solutions to support the strong growth of the global green finance market.