【News】China SIF|“ESG Information Disclosure Standards and Disclosure Levels” Parallel Forum Successfully Convened

On 14 December 2022, the 10th China SIF Annual Conference was successfully held online. China SIF was launched by SynTao Green Finance in 2012, marking a decade of success. During these ten years, China SIF has witnessed the rapid development of ESG investment at home and abroad, with more and more financial markets incorporating ESG regulation and many financial institutions developing and launching ESG investment products.
The 10th China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF) Annual Conference, organised by SynTao Green Finance and co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (UN SSEi), was successfully held online. This year's Conference was supported by strategic partners Moody's, Harvest Fund and AXA SPDB Investment Managers. As the grand finale of the China SIF Week 2022, the 10th Annual China SIF Conference was themed "ESG Investing Comes of Age", looking back on the development of ESG from its emergence and rise to its gradual maturation into the mainstream over the past decade, and looking forward to the prospects, trends and key features of ESG investment in the next decade.
  On the afternoon of December 14, the Parallel Forum of the 10th China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF) was successfully held online. Distinguished representatives from international organizations, government agencies and market institutions were invited to discuss the latest progress in ESG disclosure requirements, as well as dynamics in corporate ESG disclosure practices. Ms. Fiona LANG, Partner of SynTao Consulting, moderated this forum.  
Dr. LENG Bing, Director of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), delivered the first keynote speech. He introduced the recent development in formulating international sustainability standards. He highlighted the progress of ISSB’s work in key areas such as industry disclosure requirements, Scope 3 emissions, and climate resilience since the end of the last public consultation period.  
Ms. YIN Hong, Deputy Director of the Urban Finance Research Institute at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), discussed the trends in environmental information disclosure requirements for financial institutions and introduced relevant practices of ICBC. She also put forward suggestions for promoting environmental information disclosure, which are to research and upgrade methodologies of climate scenarios analysis and stress testing, and to encourage the development of professional third-party institutions.  
Dr. William Hong from Moody’s Analytics Industry practice lead (IPL) team shared global ESG & climate reporting trends and implications for financial institutions, in addition William also shared the methodology of climate risk stress testing as well as how this can be applied in strengthen the resilience of investment and lending strategies. Entering into roundtable discussion, attended panel speakers shared their views in regards to high-quality ESG disclosure, current ESG corporate practices, and the prospect of ESG work based on practices of their own institution. Mr. CHENG Haibo, Coordinator of China Green Finance, Bloomberg, pointed out that ESG information should be complete and comprehensive, accurate and reliable, and consistent and comparable. The TCFD recommendations have been recognized globally, and hence serves as the basis for global standard harmonization. There is still a problem of lack of willingness to disclose, and mandatory disclosure requirements is an important facilitating measure. According to Dr. LIU Yanfeng, Director of Corporate Governance at the China Association for Public Companies (CAPCO), in recent years, domestic listed companies have made progress in “double carbon” target-settings, shouldering corporate social responsibilities, and improving disclosure quality. Looking forward, it is necessary to reconcile China’s national conditions and international backdrop, and engage stakeholders to form joint effort. CAPCO is also promoting ESG-relevant work of listed companies by setting up ESG committees, gathering case studies, conducting researches, and composing guidelines.  
Dr. QI Yue, Deputy Director of International Cooperation Research Department, Research Center of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, pointed out that high-standard ESG work should first follow standardized framework and universal values, second it should be able to demonstrate as the best practice benchmark. Compliant and effective disclosure should be the foundation, yet there is still room for improvement in China's ESG information disclosure in terms of unified standards, quantitative disclosure, and reliability of data. At present, the Research Center is leading researches tailored to listed central enterprises regarding ESG information disclosure guidelines, monetizing corporate social values, and jointly promoting the construction of national standards, in an effort to accelerate ESG localization in China, as well as to facilitate high-quality development of ESG rating and ESG investment.  
Mr. LI Fei, CDP’s Associate China Director, highlighted that China is currently the second largest country in the world to disclose on CDP platform, and Chinese companies' disclosure have exceeded global average level on many metrics. But in terms of Scope 3 disclosures, for example, Chinese companies still need to improve the breadth of disclosure and the authenticity of data. By 2024, the CDP platform will fully integrate ISSB's climate information disclosure requirements, so as to reduce burden on enterprises.  
Ms. PAN Ling, VP of Strategy at StarWiz, also shared opinions from perspective of a commercial remote sensing satellite company. On the one hand, ESG information disclosure boost enterprises’ own development by enhancing transparency to allow investors to reasonably and sustainably assess its company value; on the other hand, it can also empower clients to carry out ESG risk management and information disclosure with time-sensitive data. She pointed out that satellite monitoring data is ahead of corporate disclosure in terms of timeliness, and technology can help improve the authenticity of data.  
 
The 10th China SIF Annual Conference and the 2022 China SIF Week 2022 is supported by media including Securities Times, Sina Finance and house.china.com.cn. Acknowledgements to: Responsible Investment Association of Australasia (RIAA), Caixin International, CDP, Ford Foundation (Beijing Office), International Finance Corporation, International Capital Markets Association (ICMA), Korea Sustainability Investing Forum (Kosif), Sustainable Banking and Finance Network (SBFN), Lianhe Equator, Norwegian Forum for Responsible Sustainable Investment (Norsif), Europe- based national Sustainable Investment Fora (EuroSIF), Cliumate Bonds Initiative (CBI), Global Sustainable Investment Alliance (GSIA), Sweden's Sustainable Investment Forum (SweSIF), SynTao Consulting, Shenzhen Finance Institute, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, CUEB China ESG Institute, CCM CSR Promotion Centre, iFinD, Wind Content Conference Community, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), UK Partnering forAccelerate的ClimateTransitions（UK PACT), UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association (UKSIF), and Yuze Charity for the contribution to 2022 China SIF Week.

Prior to the Annual Conference, 2022 China SIF Week has already hosted a series of 11 Side Events covering various aspects of responsible investment such as Sustainable Agriculture, Bond Markets for Sustainable Development, Net Zero Investment Trends in Asia and Asset Owners' Expectations on ESG Investment in China, Academic Workshop on ESG Practice and Investment Return, Training on Sustainable Blue Economy and Climate Change Management, TCFD Training for Listed Companies, Climate and Sustainability Disclosure in Stock Exchanges, Wealth Management for A Good Cause, China's Overseas Responsible Investments and ESG Information Disclosure for Enterprises, etc. In addition, we have contacted eight organisations from the Global SIFs Network to jointly look at the next decade of global responsible investment in a webinar format.

More than 2,000 professionals from around the world registered for the 10th China SIF Annual Conference and 2022 China SIF Week. 8,265 views were recorded on the day of the live broadcast through the China SIF website (chinasif.org), Wind 3C Conference, iFinD Terminal and WeChat video, with a total of 114,254 minutes of viewing time. The number of registrations and live streams watched reached a new record high. Please contact the organisers for information on cooperation with China SIF and more at：contact@syntaogf.com About China SIF
China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF), established in Beijing as a non-profit organisation in 2012, was officially registered as a private non-enterprise unit in Shenzhen in 2016, the Jifeng Green Finance Promotion Center of Shenzhen City, is dedicated to promoting responsible investment and to provide an internationalised platform for exchanging and sharing ideas on issues concerning sustainable development, with focus on facilitating Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integration, advocating green finance, and contributing to a responsible capital market in China as well as its sustainability.
Since the establishment, China SIF has held 10 Annual Conferences, 5 Summer Summits, 6 China SIF Weeks, and a series of featured seminars and webinars, convening policymakers as well as domestic and foreign experts to share their views, research, and good practice. Professionals and practitioners from research institutes, financial institutions, listed companies, government agencies, as well as representatives from media have joined our discussion and endeavor to explore multiple ways to promote and practice responsible investment and green finance.
China SIF keeps launching a series of landmark research reports, such as China Sustainable Investment Review, supporting the Dissertation Competition on ESG and Sustainable Finance and developing the "ESG Online Classes" series of educational videos together with partners and industry experts to promote ESG investment concepts and practices. Over the years, China SIF has become one of the most influential responsible investment forums in the region.
Please visit https://en.chinasif.org/ for more information.