Yi Gang: PBOC Plans to Implement Mandatory Climate Information Disclosure System
The People's Bank of China will support the development of a standardized international climate reporting framework, further refine green bond classification with the European Union, the United States and others, and plans to implement mandatory disclosure of climate-related information, urging major domestic commercial banks to disclose carbon data, and subsequently urging domestic listed
The People's Bank of China will support the development of a standardized international climate reporting framework, further refine green bond classification with the European Union, the United States and others, and plans to implement mandatory disclosure of climate-related information, urging major domestic commercial banks to disclose carbon data, and subsequently urging domestic listed companies to carry out related disclosure activities.
Yi Gang attended the 2021 Green Swan Conference organized by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) yesterday. He said the PBOC is working closely with the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to encourage domestic banks and institutions to join the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The PBOC is currently cooperating with the European Union on green loan and green bond categories, and is further disclosing climate-related information under the TCFD framework.
He said that China's domestic green bond standards are 80% consistent with those of the European Union, and the PBOC will explore internationally recognized standards. At the same time, the central bank plans to implement mandatory disclosure of climate-related information, urging major domestic commercial banks to disclose carbon data, and subsequently urging domestic listed companies to disclose related information.
Yi Gang pointed out that in the financial sector, Chinese banks will continue to carry out climate stress tests to measure climate-related risks. Regarding next week's Group of Seven leaders' meeting and the G20 in the United Kingdom, he hopes that countries can reach an information disclosure standard before the end of this year.
He said that in order to identify and assess the institutions most vulnerable to climate change, the PBOC has begun conducting climate stress tests on China's financial system, but the analysis results have not yet been published.
Yi Gang said that climate risk assessment results will be disclosed in due course in the future. In pilot projects, commercial banks have actually already begun assessing them, such as in macroprudential policy, and the former is gradually realizing the importance of climate change. The PBOC is trying to assess commercial banks' green assets and brown assets, and in the future may consider risk weighting based on the greenness of assets. The deadline for commercial banks' green transformation will be determined in the future, but the transformation needs to proceed smoothly to avoid a sudden move triggering a crisis.