Facilitating financing by appropriate green companies
In 2020, the SSE and the SZSE helped issuers in environmental protection and governance industries to raise RMB 22.949 billion from IPO and follow-on offerings. Thirty-nine green tech companies on NEEQ completed 41 private placements for RMB 716 million.
Growing the green corporate bond market
In 2020, 105 green bonds (including asset-backed securities) were issued on the exchange market at a combined size of RMB 90.582 billion. In addition, the IPBCN updated the Green Bond Endorsed Projects Catalogue (2015 Edition) with the PBC and the NDRC to create the 2020 edition.
Strengthening environmental disclosure
The IPBCN aimed to make the environmental impact of listed companies more transparent, starting with requiring enhanced environmental disclosures. As a result, more than 1,000 listed companies have released environmental information in their 2019 annual report or sustainable development report.
Promoting ESG investment
The IPBCN revised the Provisions on Classification-Based Supervision of Securities Companies to incorporate social responsibility performance into the evaluation process—securities companies that help issue green bonds to good effect would earn bonus points.
In addition, on December 3, 2020, China Securities Index Co., Ltd. (CSI) formally released its ESG rating methodology. As a result, as of the end of 2020, there were 88 green-themed public funds in China with a total AUM of RMB 195.046 billion, covering such segments as ESG, environmental protection, low carbon, and new energy.
Developing green finance indices
In 2020, CSI published 12 green finance indices—9 stock and 3 bond—spanning ESG, sustainable development, environmental protection, new energy, and new-energy vehicles. By the end of 2020, the company had issued 59 green indices, comprising 47 stock indices and 12 bond indices.
The CSI officially published its ESG rating methodology on December 3, 2020, to help market participants evaluate a listed company’s environmental, social, and corporate governance performance, support China’s green finance system, and implement the country’s green development strategy.
ESG is the embodiment of sustainable development philosophy at the corporate level. Notably, ESG investing has attracted wide attention and has become one of the biggest trends in the asset management sector in recent years. The CSI’s ESG rating methodology is rooted in the reality of the Chinese market. Moreover, it objectively reflects an enterprise’s fundamental ESG performance, making it a powerful tool for optimizing business operations and investment management.
The methodology considers the unique features of the subject company’s industry and the quality of available information. It comprises 3 dimensions (environmental, social, and corporate governance), 14 themes, 22 topics, and over 100 basic metrics. The raw data are pulled from public sources, such as the listed company’s annual and corporate social responsibility reports and information published by government agencies and traditional media outlets.
The CSI’s rating methodology has three significant features:
It considers international conventions such as the UN Sustainable Investment Principle and China’s local context, demonstrated by including poverty alleviation, other economic development and public welfare metrics, and social contribution metrics that measure an enterprise’s overall contribution to society.
It is a professional, investor-oriented evaluation system: risks and returns impact the final rating, making it an efficient investment guide.
The metrics are also quantitative and objective. Among them are investment metrics, such as “share pledge” and “non-compliant guarantees,” that reflect a company’s quality, as well as unique, innovative metrics, such as “green revenue” and social contribution value per share.
03The methodology accounts for both ESG risk factors and opportunity factors. Evaluation of a company’s ESG risks also considers what it has done to mitigate those risks and their effect. The opportunity angle is especially prominent for companies in industries such as new energy.