On April 15, 2021, the people's Bank of China and the international monetary fund jointly held a high-level seminar on "green finance and climate policy". Yi Gang, President of the people's Bank of China, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
The full text of the opening speech is as follows:
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen,
Good morning, good evening! I am very pleased to co host this high level seminar on "green finance and climate policy" with IMF. First of all, on behalf of the people's Bank of China, please allow me to extend a warm welcome to all the guests attending the seminar!
The international community is forming a broad consensus on dealing with climate change. China has announced its strategic goal of achieving carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2060, also known as the "30 / 60" goal. This requires a comprehensive and systematic economic transformation. In this process, green finance can play the role of "accelerator".
The people's Bank of China attaches great importance to the development of green finance. In 2016, the people's Bank of China took the lead in formulating the guidance on the construction of a green financial system, and formulated a timetable and roadmap to promote the gradual implementation of specific policies and the preliminary establishment of a green financial policy system. On this basis, China's green financial market has developed rapidly. By the end of 2020, China's green loan balance is about $1.8 trillion, and its green bond stock is about $125 billion, ranking first and second in the world respectively. Recently, market players have issued more than 40 carbon neutral bonds, with a scale of more than US $10 billion.
The goal of carbon peak and carbon neutral puts forward new and higher requirements for the financial sector. We need to deal with a series of challenges.
First, at the social level, the awareness of green emission reduction needs to be improved.
Second, at the market level, we should give full play to the pricing role of the carbon market. Only reasonable pricing of carbon emissions can guide the rational allocation of resources. At present, China's national carbon emission trading market has just started, and it needs to further play the financial attribute of carbon market.
Thirdly, at the institutional level, climate information disclosure needs to be further improved. The scope of disclosure subject should be expanded to cover all kinds of subjects such as listed companies and financial institutions, and the disclosure mode should gradually change from voluntary disclosure to compulsory disclosure.
Fourth, at the level of risk management, we need to pay close attention to the transformation risks related to fossil fuels. In China's energy consumption structure, 80% are fossil fuels, mainly coal. It is estimated that by 2060, fossil fuels will account for less than 20%. China's financial institutions hold some high-carbon assets, and the risk of asset value change caused by green transformation deserves our attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends!
With a view to the future, I think there are several key areas that need to be promoted.
