Opening Remarks at 2025 Green Fintech Symposium
Speeches
12 Sep 2025
Opening Remarks at 2025 Green Fintech Symposium
Eddie Yue, Chief Executive, Hong Kong Monetary Authority
- Good afternoon everyone. Welcome to the 2025 Green Fintech Symposium, co-hosted by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers. This is the closing event of the highly successful Hong Kong Green Week.
- Over the past week, Hong Kong has been buzzing with productive dialogue, effective collaboration, and fresh ideas. Under the theme “Forging a Sustainable Future Together”, more than 60 local and international institutions joined forces in Hong Kong Green Week to deliver more than 40 conferences, forums, workshops, and expos. The enthusiasm from around the world truly underscores Hong Kong’s standing as Asia-Pacific’s leading green and sustainable finance hub.
- Today, we celebrate the power of innovation in sustainability and the role green fintech plays in tackling pressing sustainability challenges. Earlier this year, we launched the 2025 Green Fintech Competition, inviting fintech pioneers around the world to showcase solutions across five key areas, from greening supply chains and supporting SMEs’ sustainability journey, to advancing climate risk modelling, facilitating sustainable investment and driving carbon market transparency.
- The Competition attracted more than 140 entries from 26 jurisdictions. Compared to 2023, it was a 63% increase. This remarkable response highlights the growing global interest and commitment to leveraging fintech innovations for sustainable development, despite discouraging news headlines that we read from time to time. Indeed, earlier this year, a Big 4 firm published its findings that out of a sample of 4,000 companies, 83% made R&D investment in low-carbon products and services as they saw a strong business case irrespective of the noises.
- Looking back at the last competition of two years ago, we witnessed participants who have since gone on to achieve remarkable success, bringing their innovative solutions to life in the financial sector and beyond. These trailblazers have set an inspiring benchmark, one that challenges this year’s participants to push the boundaries even further.
- This afternoon, you’ll hear from the five winners of the Competition, each showcasing pioneering ideas and their practical applications. I encourage you to visit their booths afterward to dive deeper into their cutting-edge technologies and impactful projects.
- Our theme today, “Creating Synergies Through Finance”, reminds us that no single organisation or sector can solve climate change alone. Our vision is clear: we must forge partnerships across finance, technology, academia, and businesses to effectively confront the complex, interconnected challenges posed by global climate change.
- Climate change transcends traditional boundaries, affecting areas such as public health, supply chains, energy systems, and natural ecosystems. It demands agile and integrated responses — responses that green fintech can help deliver by merging financial expertise with technological innovation. This empowers us to scale up climate risk analytics, enhance accountability in carbon markets, craft sustainable financial products, and mobilise investments needed for a greener economy.
- At the HKMA, we are proud to champion these efforts and lead the charge in advancing green fintech. Earlier this year, we published an adoption practice guide that highlights how green fintech can accelerate banks’ net-zero journeys. We also hosted a FiNETech event focusing on green fintech and rolled out a series of training sessions to help banks build capacity and empower them to integrate green fintech more effectively into their day-to-day operations.
- Beyond capacity building, we are showcasing real-world applications of green fintech. Our cloud-based platform equips banks with vital data to better assess and manage physical climate risks, bridging climate modelling and financial risk management. Meanwhile, through Project Ensemble, we are enhancing the liquidity and depth of the carbon markets by exploring how tokenisation can improve the issuance, trading, and retirement of carbon credits — including those conducted across borders. Together, these projects show how collaboration and innovation can break down silos and amplify impact.
- Looking ahead, Hong Kong’s green fintech ecosystem can shine as a model of inclusive and sustainable growth both regionally and globally. By nurturing partnerships across financial institutions, tech innovators, academia, and policymakers, we can accelerate innovation, scale sustainable solutions, and drive market transformation. The cross-pollination of ideas and expertise cultivates fertile ground for pioneering tools and business models that address the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
- To all participants, partners, and guests: your presence here is more than symbolic. The connections and collaborations born from today’s conversation bring us closer to a future where financial flows support the preservation of our planet and prosperity for all.
- So let “Creating Synergies Through Finance” be our call to action. Let’s bridge gaps, overcome challenges, and innovate boldly. Together, we can make finance the catalyst for a greener world. Let’s move forward with shared purpose and determination. Thank you.
