It's easy to turn green, but very few are truly valuable
In recent years, green bonds, sustainability-linked loans and ESG reports have become fashionable.But many real-economy executives privately feel that:
“Whether it’s green or not depends more on the deck than the project.”
At CHWH, we often see three types of “pseudo-green” behaviour:
1.Same project, different label
The underlying capex or plant upgrade remains the same; only the financing wrapper is changed to “green” or “sustainable”.
2.Lack of credible data
Without baseline metrics and a plausible decarbonisation path, professional investors cannot assess how green a project truly is.
3.Disconnection between business and finance units
Business teams just want funding; finance wants cheaper cost of capital; few focus on whether the project drives real transformation.
Pushing business from financing: First ask, 'What changes have been made to the business?'
CHWH’s core principle is:
Green finance must start from the business, not from the funding product.
We begin with three sets of questions:
1.Process and equipment
Which process steps can be optimised via efficiency, emission reduction or circular use?
Can these improvements be measured (energy intensity, emissions, material usage)?
2.Product and customer
Can we create lower-carbon or greener product lines?
Are customers willing to pay a premium for better environmental performance?
3.Supply chain and partners
Are suppliers and downstream clients willing to jointly upgrade as a green supply chain?
Are there industry associations or third parties that can provide standards and certification?
Only after answering these can green finance become a meaningful tool. Otherwise, it’s just a re-labelled funding channel.
The 'Three Building Blocks' of Green Projects: Business, Data, and Financial Instruments
A truly valuable green project is usually built from three “blocks”:
1.Business scenario: a clear greening pathway
Examples:Steel producers upgrading furnaces and energy systems to reduce unit energy consumption;Building materials companies increasing recycled content;Healthcare firms optimising cold-chain logistics to cut energy use.
2.Data and verification: third-party credibility
Establish a baseline: pre-project energy, emissions and material usage;
Define a target pathway: where indicators should be in 3–5 years and which measures will get them there;Introduce third-party assessment and ongoing disclosure.
3.Financial tools: matching instruments and incentives
Choose appropriate instruments such as green bonds, sustainability-linked loans (SLLs) or transition bonds;Design KPI-linked incentives, e.g. lower interest rates if targets are met;Use Hong Kong’s multi-currency, multi-layer capital markets to reach aligned investors.
Hong Kong's positioning in green finance: standards+market+professional services
Unlike many places where green finance remains mostly conceptual, Hong Kong has built a relatively mature ecosystem:
Standards and certification: evolving taxonomies, third-party verifiers and ESG rating systems;
Markets and investors: bond markets, REITs, PE funds and family offices all active in green investments;
Professional services: auditors, lawyers, consultants and engineering firms working together.
For real-sector companies, this means they don’t need to build everything from scratch.
Instead, they can plug into Hong Kong’s existing standards and markets.
CHWH’s role is to translate companies’ operational transformation pathways into structures that markets and regulators understand — structures that can be financed, traded and sustained.
CHWH's project approach: From a green project, drive an entire business line upgrade
In practice, CHWH often recommends starting with a focused pilot:
1.Select one plant, line or product family;
2.Build a full “green project memo” with data and third-party assessment;
3.Use Hong Kong markets to test a green bond, SLL or other suitable instrument;
4.Turn the pilot into a template and roll it out across other sites and lines.
This approach:
Helps internal teams understand what a green project really is;
Gives external investors tangible evidence of capability and intent;
Lays the groundwork — in standards and processes — for large-scale green transformation later.
