Relevance of SEA to a Global Financial Centre Under One Country Two Systems: Engaging Stakeholders for Sustainability and Climate Change

As the world calls for actions in response to the adverse impacts on the natural environment associated with climate change, the international capital market increasingly recognises the pertinent investment risks imposed on assets around the globe demanding more pertinent disclosures. Hong Kong, a special administrative region and the global financial centre of the most populous nation and second largest economy of the world, has strategised to synchronise with the international financial community. Under one country two systems, it reinforces financial regulatory measures on ESG disclosures by listed companies with the ambition to become a hub of green finance. However, a recent survey reveals sluggishness of these companies in complying with the disclosure guidelines pertinent to social and environmental sustainability. Furthermore, engagement with their stakeholders appears to remain insufficient despite its significance to facilitating a social and environmental accounting (SEA) process. Meanwhile, the city’s recent social movement and turmoil generates grave concerns over its underlying social sustainability and even public health. This commentary suggests that a gap exists between: (a) the policy desire to position Hong Kong systemically as an international green finance hub that hinges upon harmonisation among local, international and governing stakeholders and (b) Hong Kong’s apparent un-sustainability status. This dilemma is yet to be harmonised owing to inability to reach consensus among intergenerational stakeholders recurrently diverged over ideologies. Such relevance and implications for the international SEAJ community are articulated.