Zoë Knight, Managing Director and Group Head, Centre of Sustainable Finance at HSBC
Doha: HSBC sustainable finance experts have met with government and business leaders here and participated in the Qatar Foundation National Climate Dialogue to discuss the role of the financial system in leading the transition to a net zero carbon global economy.
The investment needed by emerging markets to help them transition to a net-zero economy by 2060 is estimated at $94.8 trillion according to a new study.
“Investment in clean energy needs to be accelerated,” said Zoë Knight, Managing Director and Group Head, Centre of Sustainable Finance at HSBC. “We need to mobilise capital to increase its flow to transition solutions that are aligned to science-based transition plans and national pathways for net zero”.
Net-zero transition plans set out how commitments are turned into action. HSBC, in collaboration with different stakeholders, has developed sector-based plans to assess the credibility and progress of net-zero commitments, as well as providing a framework to work with clients in their transitions while safeguarding the environment and society.
HSBC has supported the Qatar Financial Centre to develop a Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework, the first in the GCC region, which is based on the latest International Capital Markets Association’s (ICMA’s) Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP), and Sustainable Bond Guidelines (SBG).
HSBC was also the sole framework advisor for Masraf Al Rayyan to launch a Sustainable Financing Framework (SSF) to further green projects, in line with the Green Bond Principles and the national environmental development agenda in April 2022.
HSBC’s cumulative total for sustainable finance and investment since 2019 was more than $170.8bn by the end of June 2022, showing progress towards its ambition of providing and facilitating between $750bn and $1tn of sustainable finance and investment by 2030.
HSBC has been the Middle East’s Best Bank for Sustainable Finance since 2018, according to annual Awards for Excellence made by the specialist financial journal Euromoney. The Bank was also named Asia’s Best Bank for Sustainable Finance for the fifth year in a row at the 2022 awards.
