The second anniversary of the "carbon" road of financial institutions: standardized green financial standards are still to be established

　　The second anniversary of the "carbon" road of financial institutions: from the pilot to the deep participation in the comprehensive transformation, the standardized green financial standard still needs to be established

　　Our reporter Li Bing Yu Junyi

　　The picture of the "14th Five-Year Plan" has been unfolded, and a higher-quality, warmer and more dynamic development picture has emerged on the paper.

From "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" to basically realizing the goal of building a beautiful China by 2035, green development has become a new engine for high-quality economic development in China.

　　September 22 is the second anniversary of the "two-carbon" goal.

For the financial industry serving the real economy, this is also a gradual change, in which financial institutions have transformed from pilot projects to deep participation.

　　Looking back at the node of the second anniversary, what is the situation of the "carbon" road of financial institutions?

Facing the future, how can financial institutions help achieve the "dual carbon" goal with higher-quality financial services?

　　Green financial products

　　full bloom

　　"Low-carbon knowledge" and "energy-saving tips" can be seen everywhere. This is the intuitive feeling of a reporter from "Securities Daily" who visited the Beijing office of Immediate Consumer Finance.

"It has become a habit to turn off the power at any time, low-carbon and environmentally friendly." The staff of the company told the "Securities Daily" reporter.

　　The reporter noticed that the "low-carbon office" special publicity logo was designed and posted in many places in the Beijing office of Immediate Consumer Finance, reminding employees to form a "low-carbon office" habit; recycling materials, reducing disposable utensils, advocating double-sided printing paper, Black and white printing, etc.

At the same time, relevant real-time data are also scrolled on the publicity screen, including total emission reduction, green consumption balance, green credit status, electronic contract vouchers (full online paperless service), etc.

　　The reporter talked with the staff of many institutions and found that it has become the consensus of many financial institutions to cultivate employees' awareness of low-carbon environmental protection.

And this is just a sketch of the "carbon" road of financial institutions in the past two years.

　　In the past two years, financial institutions have continued to exert their efforts, setting off a wave of "chasing the waves" of green finance.

Commercial banks, trust institutions, consumer financial institutions, etc. actively support the "dual carbon" goal, and the scale of green credit and green bonds continues to grow.

　　According to data released by the China Banking Association, as of the end of 2021, the balance of domestic and foreign currency green loans of banking financial institutions was 15.9 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.86 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33%.

As far as the major state-owned banks are concerned, as of the first half of 2022, the green credit balance of the six major state-owned banks has exceeded the 10 trillion yuan mark.

Among them, the green credit balance of ICBC exceeded 3 trillion yuan, reaching 3.49 trillion yuan, ranking first in scale; the green loan balances of China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank, Bank of China, Bank of Communications, and Postal Savings Bank were 2.41 trillion yuan and 23,700 yuan respectively. 100 million yuan, 1.73 trillion yuan, 574.137 billion yuan, 433.671 billion yuan (most institutions increased by more than 20% from the end of the previous year).

　　In terms of green bonds, according to data released by the China Banking Association, the domestic green bond issuance in 2021 will exceed 600 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 180%, and the balance will reach 1.1 trillion yuan.

　　According to Yang Haiping, researcher at the Securities and Futures Research Institute of Central University of Finance and Economics and general manager of the Research and Development Department of Inner Mongolia Bank, “As an important intermediary in resource allocation, the development of green finance by financial institutions reflects the unity of macro-financial efficiency and micro-financial efficiency. In terms of micro-financial efficiency, it can guide more resources to focus on green development. In terms of micro-financial efficiency, it can better manage environmental and social risks and optimize its own business structure.”

　　According to Wind data, in addition to banking institutions, trusts, securities companies and funds are also making efforts in the field of green finance.

Up to now, fund companies have issued 263 ESG investment funds (A/B/C/H not combined), with a total scale exceeding 260 billion yuan.

In addition to public offerings, asset management of securities companies is also testing ESG products. So far, there have been 8 ESG-themed surviving collective asset management plans issued by securities companies (graded products are counted separately).

　　"The process of moving towards the 'dual carbon' goal is also a process of transformation and upgrading of the financial industry. In the future, financial institutions will serve more green ecological industries and support the vigorous development of low-emission, low-pollution, and low-energy-consuming industries." Samoyed Cloud Technology Zheng Lei, chief economist of the group, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the construction and transformation of the green financial system still needs to be promoted through a series of top-level designs.

　　"Two-Carbon" Goal

　　Embed the whole business process

　　In the past two years, financial institutions have made remarkable achievements in helping to achieve the "dual carbon" goal.

From the determination of the green finance development ideas of "three functions" and "five pillars", to the release of the new version of the green bond catalogue, and then to the introduction of carbon emission reduction support tools, the top-level design of green finance has gradually become clear.

Entering 2022, the development of green finance has entered the fast lane, and the "dual carbon" goal is being embedded in the entire business process of financial institutions.

　　The reporter visited and learned that different financial institutions are actively contributing to the realization of the "dual carbon" goal according to their own characteristics.

For example, some banks start from offline outlets.

Not long ago, the business department of Industrial Bank Tianjin Branch was awarded the "Carbon Neutrality Certificate", becoming the first carbon neutral business outlet of a joint-stock bank in Tianjin.

　　The relevant person in charge of Industrial Bank told the "Securities Daily" reporter, "As early as 2007, we began to study the international carbon market, independently developed carbon asset assessment tools, and took the lead in launching international carbon finance involving the pre-, mid- and back-end carbon trading in the country. Comprehensive product service.”

　　"As far as sustainable development is concerned, it is not enough to rely on industrial transfer to achieve carbon peaking and carbon neutrality. The carbon neutral strategy is essentially an ecological revolution about low-carbon technology and business chain transformation." The relevant person in charge of the institution told the "Securities Daily" reporter that at present, many institutions have realized that it is impossible to achieve the "dual carbon" goal. Point-to-face access to the entire business process.

　　Ping An Bank disclosed to reporters that it has established a green finance office headed by the president, and set up a first-level department of the green finance business department to take green finance as an industry for long-term development; according to Minmetals Trust, its The ESG credit review and evaluation mechanism has been officially launched, and the ESG concept has been introduced into the trust project review process.

　　Internet banks represented by MYbank and Baixin Bank are more inclined to participate through technological means.

For example, MYbank has built a green rating system driven by digital intelligence. The system automatically completes the green identification of small and micro entities, and then completes the approval of relevant green loans. As of the first half of 2022, it has supported more than 4 million small and micro enterprises. The business entity has obtained a green rating.

　　Baixin Bank actively cooperated with the People's Bank of China to successfully launch the first green finance special rediscount product "Beijing Green Pass II" in Beijing, ranking first in the market share in Beijing.

　　There are also consumer financial institutions that have also practiced. Industrial Consumer Finance revealed to a reporter from Securities Daily that it has formulated the "Guidelines for Green Consumer Finance Business and Customer Identification"; Immediately Consumer Finance will release "Carbon Reach" in July 2021. Peak Carbon Neutrality "Roadmap 2.0", and has provided over 155 million users with paperless services across the board, reducing carbon emissions by 1,193,500 tons.

　　In the view of many people in the industry, the achievement of the "dual carbon" goal requires not only the transformation of financial institutions themselves, but also the active participation of everyone.

As Xie Yonglin, general manager and co-CEO of Ping An Group and chairman of Ping An Bank, said: "Financial institutions should closely link residents' consumption behavior with the concept of green and low-carbon, increase their support for a green, circular and low-carbon economy, and use financial resources Water green development and contribute green finance to fully support residents' carbon emission reduction and achieve the 'double carbon' goal."

　　"Financial institutions should deeply understand the impact environmental risks will have on financial security, and raising awareness of the 'dual carbon' goal is the first step for institutions to move towards the 'dual carbon' goal." Wang Pengbo, senior analyst at Broadcom, accepted "Securities Daily" reporters said in an interview that financial institutions can truly embed the "dual carbon" goal into the entire business process by improving their digitalization level, and finally build a green financial system by combining internal and external means. This is the "carbon" road of financial institutions. The only way to go, in which technology is the "media".

　　"In many economic development plans and programs, greening, intelligence, and digitization are integrated deployments." Yang Haiping told the "Securities Daily" reporter that financial institutions, especially commercial banks, take serving the real economy as the fundamental purpose, and use financial Science and technology serving green and low-carbon development will inevitably become a trend, and the integration of green banks and digital banks will inevitably become a trend.

　　A careful analysis of the current "dual carbon" business of financial institutions is not difficult to find that many products can not only help small and medium-sized enterprises to solve the problems of difficult and expensive financing, but also encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to increase investment in green and low-carbon transformation, and strive to promote decarbonization and emission reduction. , can be described as "two birds with one stone".

To promote low-carbon development in the future, green finance is promising.

　　Looking forward to the future, how can financial institutions help achieve the "dual carbon" goal with higher-quality financial services?

The relevant person in charge of WeBank told the "Securities Daily" reporter that digital finance can also help achieve the "dual carbon" goal.

In the past, many banks have integrated the concept of green and sustainable development into their daily operations, gradually exploring the digitization and paperlessization of business processes, and trying to achieve green environmental protection from the root.

　　green finance

　　There is still a lot of room for exploration

　　Over the past two years, regulatory support policies have been introduced intensively.

In April 2021, the central bank and other three departments jointly issued the "Catalogue of Green Bond Support Projects (2021 Edition)"; from July 1, 2021, the "Green Finance Evaluation Plan for Banking Financial Institutions" was officially implemented; in June 2022, the Bank The China Insurance Regulatory Commission issued the "Green Finance Guidelines for the Banking and Insurance Industry" to further promote the implementation of various green finance policies...

　　Although my country's green finance is currently developing vigorously, my country still faces multiple challenges in the process of low-carbon transformation. It is necessary to carefully grasp the risks and strengthen forward-looking research and judgment, so as to make green finance stable and long-term.

　　An industry insider told a reporter from Securities Daily, "How to achieve both green and low-carbon energy security? How to rely on professional management platform companies to build a market-oriented and standardized green investment and financing system, and establish standardized green financial standards, etc. These questions It all needs to be considered by financial institutions.”

　　"Financial institutions still face challenges to achieve 'carbon neutrality'." Gan Yutao, executive director of Beijing Xinke Financial Development Research Institute, told the "Securities Daily" reporter that one is insufficient innovation; the other is that "false green" still exists. Financial standards have shortcomings in many aspects, such as classification, disclosure and stress testing; third, the overall carbon accounting standards are not uniform, the industry has not yet formed a recognized unified standard, and a national carbon accounting system has not yet been established. No, it is directly related to the subsequent application of financial instruments and product innovation and development.

　　"At present, various fields of green finance in my country are booming, but it should also be noted that the participating market players are not active, which is reflected in the less-than-expected carbon trading market." Associate Professor of the Department of Finance, School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University, Associate Professor of the China Finance Research Center of Tsinghua University Director Huang Zhangkai told the "Securities Daily" reporter that the current "carbon" road of financial institutions is still in the exploratory stage, and it is necessary to more actively introduce and adjust corresponding laws and regulations to achieve a more flexible and more market-compliant regulatory system, thereby promoting all parties. Participate in and better serve my country's carbon reduction cause.

　　Yu Baicheng, Dean of 01 Finance Research Institute, told reporters, "Currently, the 'regulatory sandbox' related to green finance is still in the exploratory stage. The volume and development of green finance are low, and large-scale commercial applications are still difficult to achieve. There is still huge room for exploration in finance. With the continuous penetration of innovative technologies such as cloud computing, blockchain, artificial intelligence, and big data in the field of green finance, technology will become an increasingly important force in the development of green finance. Green finance achieves refined and diversified development.” (Securities Daily)