On the morning of December 3, 2024, the 12th China Sustainable Investment Forum (China SIF) Annual Conference was successfully opened in Beijing. The annual conference was hosted by the SynTao Green Finance Business and co-hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (UN SSE). Dozens of experts from the regulatory, market and academic sectors delivered speeches or participated in dialogues at the conference, and more than 300 delegates attended the conference on-site. About 550,000 people watched the conference online.

Jointly Welcome Speech by Li Nan and Eric USHER

Moderate by Guo Peiyuan

From top to down：Wang Zhongmin, Yi Xuedong, Wang Yida, and Fiona Reynolds

The opening session featured opening remarks by Li Nan, Chair of the UN SSE and Director of the Division on Investment and Enterprise of UNCTAD, and Eric Usher, Head of the UNEP FI, Wang Zhongmin, former Vice Chairman of the National Council of Social Security Funds of the People’s Republic of China and Honorary Chairman of China SIF, Yi Xuedong, Director of Research Center of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), Wang Yida, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, National Green Development Fund Co.，and Fiona Reynolds, President of the Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return Initiative (FAIRR) and former CEO of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) delivered keynote speech respectively. The conference was moderated by Guo Peiyuan, Chairman of China SIF、President of SynTao Green Finance、Representative of China, United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI).

Report Released by Zhu Xufeng

During the morning results reporting session, Zhu Xufeng, Dean, School of Public Policy & Management, Tsinghua University (SPPM), Executive Director, the Institute of Sustainable Development Goals of Tsinghua University (TUSDG), on behalf of TUSDG put forward the Research Report on ESG Rating System of Local Governments in China (2024)。

The report quantitatively rates the overall ESG performance of 31 provinces (Autonomous region and Municipality) and 68 cities in China over the period 2017-2022. The report finds that the overall ESG performance of China's provinces and cities has shown a steady upward trend, with Guangdong Province and Beijing City leading the way in ESG development, but the differences between regions are still significant, and there is still plenty of room and potential for the future development of cities' ESG performance. The report suggests that ESG ratings should be incorporated into local government governance indicator systems and empowerment mechanisms, and that local governments should be empowered with ESG-oriented business environment and innovation. The results of this research will provide important academic references and guidelines for local governments to form a sustainable development path with “green value” as the core.

This is a series of studies on the ESG rating index system of local governments in China, which has been released since 2021 and has received enthusiastic response and attention from regulators and the industry. This is the fourth consecutive year that TUSDG has released this series of research reports.

This year's conference featured expert roundtable dialogues in the morning on the two major themes of policy and market, and parallel forums in the afternoon on “ESG Investments for Transformational Finance”, “Biodiversity and ESG Investments (TNFD Session)”, “Climate Resilience and Corporate Transformation”, and “Development of ESG Disclosure Standards”. 

The theme of this year's conference is “20 Years of ESG Philosophy: Review and Prospect of Sustainable Finance”, which aims to review the birth, development and evolution of ESG philosophy, and discuss the current ESG hot issues and look forward to the opportunities and challenges of sustainable finance in the light of the current situation of green finance and ESG development in China.

Photo of the Conference

The full text of “Research Report on ESG Rating System of Local Governments in China (2024)” will be published on TUSDG official public account and website, so please pay attention to it.

Source | TUSDG & SynTao Green Finance