S&P Dow Jones Indices and Bank of China (Hong Kong) have launched what they say is the first benchmark that gauges the extent to which companies in the Greater Bay Area are cutting carbon emissions in the global fight against climate change.
The S&P BOCHK China Hong Kong Greater Bay Area Net Zero 2050 Climate Transition Index measures performance of stocks in the S&P China-Hong Kong Greater Bay Area Index.
The stocks are selected and weighted to be collectively compatible with the 1.5 degree Celsius global warming climate scenario, S&P Dow Jones Indices says in a statement on July 9.
Signatories to the 2015 Paris Agreement agreed to limit global warming to below 1.5 degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels by 2100.
“The Index reflects how companies in the Greater Bay Area can be aligned with a 2050 net-zero trajectory,” Reid Steadman, global head of environmental, social and governance and innovation at S&P Dow Jones Indices, says in the statement.
The Greater Bay Area comprises Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in China’s southern Guangdong province, with a total population of over 70 million holding roughly 3 trillion RMB (US$440 billion) of investable assets. Beijing wants to turn the area into a finance and business hub by 2030.
A survey by Fidelity International in May showed that about 71% investors in the area embrace the idea of sustainable investing.
