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Biodiversity set to become part of international corporate sustainability reporting standards after landmark vote

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Participants at the COP27 climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in 2022. Photo: Reuters

The standards could become the basis for authorities around the world to regulate such disclosures, said McKenzie, who was in Hong Kong last week to attend the launch of TNFD Recommendations Hong Kong, organized in partnership with Swire Properties, the only representative of the city in the 40-member working group.

The TNFD – backed by G20 countries, companies and financial institutions around the world – was launched in June 2021 designing an internationally recognized framework for nature-related business information.
Seven Hong Kong companies have joined more than 360 companies worldwide committed to disclosing nature-related risks and opportunities, in line with TNFD recommendations.

They include property developers Swire, Chinachem Group, Henderson Land Development and Sino Land, gas company Hong Kong and China Gas (Towngas), drinks producer Vitasoy International Holdings and Archireef, a start-up for the restoration of marine ecosystems.

“Hong Kong’s status as an international financial center can help bring together plans and actions to promote sustainable transformation,” said Salina Yan Mei-mei, Permanent Secretary for Financial Services and the Ministry of Finance, at the TNFD launch event.

“We will closely monitor global developments and adapt to international standards where necessary,” she said.

At the first One Earth Summit in Hong Kong last month, Minister of Financial Services and the Ministry of Finance Christopher Hui outlined the city’s goal to be one of the first jurisdictions to align local sustainability information with benchmarks published by the ISSB.

The ISSB’s plan to formulate biodiversity disclosure standards has been long expected, said Kelly Lee, senior vice president of the policy and secretariat services unit of the listing division of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), the exchange operator of the city.

A forest in the Chinese province of Inner Mongolia. Photo: Shutterstock

“Even under existing rules, publicly traded companies are already required to disclose their business’s impact on the environment and natural resources,” she said during a panel at the TNFD launch event. “This is not something new, and (companies) have been doing it for the past few years.”

“The new climate requirements are part of the broader Hong Kong roadmap for local adoption of the ISSB standards,” said HKEX head of listing Katherine Ng. in a statement.

“This will be an important part of our ongoing efforts to prepare listed companies for eventual sustainability reporting in line with local sustainability disclosure standards that are being developed, thereby increasing the attractiveness and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s capital markets. ”

The ISSB said it plans to complete its next work plan in the first half of this year.

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