The Hong Kong Green Building Council recently started issuing international certificates for buildings overseas, which is expected to enable more international developers to secure local funding for sustainable projects, boosting the city’s role as a regional green finance hub.
A non-profit-making body focused on promoting the development of eco-friendly structures, the council has extended its Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM) Plus certification programme to foreign markets.
The council issued its first BEAM Plus global version certificate in June to a complex in the East African country of Djibouti, while another structure in Macau is expected to soon get the same certification.
“The extension of our green building certificates would be an important move to attract more international developers, particularly those in the Belt and Road Initiative countries, to get funding in Hong Kong to finance their projects,” said Ivan Fu Chin-shing, director of the council, in an interview on Thursday.
“Hong Kong is an international financial centre with many banks offering green loans to companies, while global investors also like to invest in the city’s green bonds.”
The international BEAM Plus certification reflected Hong Kong’s growing role in helping the UN achieve its sustainability and humanitarian goals through green financing, while spurring the issuance of more green bonds in the city.
