1. Overview of ESG, Sustainable Finance Standards and Regulations 

• Dimensions of ESG and sustainable finance
• Introduction to sustainable finance standards
• Global policy responses to climate change and sustainability
• United Nations sustainable development goals and principles for responsible banking, sustainable insurance, Sustainable Insurance Forum and Net-Zero Banking Alliance

2. Theoretical Frameworks behind ESG

• Dimensions of fiduciary duty and social responsibility of a firm
• Theories of ethics and justice
• Shareholder primacy and stakeholder primacy
• Regenerative capacity

3. Introduction to Environmental, Social and Governance Factors   

• Environmental Factors

1. Environment and climate risk change
2. Pollution, waste management and energy transition risks
3. Biodiversity

• Social Factors

1. Stakeholder engagement, community development and social inclusion
2. Labor standards and human rights
3. Diversity, equity and inclusion

• Governance Factors

1. Corporate Governance and Accountability
2. Board structure and independence
3. Risk management and internal controls

4. ESG Measures and Rating Systems

• ESG identification, measures and divergence
• Different ESG rating systems – MSCI, Sustainalytics, Refinitiv, S&P Global
• Credit rating agencies – new transition ratings by Moody, S&P and Fitch
• ESG risks – headline risk, performance risk, greenwashing

5. Sustainable Financial Products

• Sustainability bonds, green bonds, blue bonds
• Social bonds, climate bonds, transition bonds
• Sustainability-linked loans, green mortgages and green securitisation
• Green indices and ESG mutual funds
• Sustainable insurance products
• Impact investing and crowd funding
• Banking – transition finance
• Challenges and solutions for the development of sustainable financial products

6. Corporate Sustainability Practices

• Company purpose and investor stewardship
• Shareholder influence for sustainable development
• Sustainable supply chain

7. Contemporary Issues in ESG and Sustainable Finance    

• Successful ESG and sustainability implementation
• Progress in aligning finance with sustainability
• Challenges to the growth of ESG and sustainable finance
• Emerging trends and innovations in ESG and sustainable finance

1. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) S1 – IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standard: General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information

• Conceptual foundation: fair presentation, materiality, reporting entity, and connected information
• Governance, strategy, risk management, and metrics and target
• General requirements: sources of guidance, location of disclosures, timing of reporting, comparative information, and statement of compliance
• Judgements, uncertainties, errors and illustrative guidance

2. IFRS S2 – IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standard: Climate-Related Disclosures

• Objective and scope
• Illustrative guidance and examples in IFRS S2
• Industry-based guidance on implementing IFRS S2

3. The Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) – Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting related Listing Rules and ESG Mandatory Disclosure Requirements

• Reporting principles – (1) Materiality; (2) Quantitative; (3) Balance & (4) Consistency
• Reporting boundary, internal and external materiality assessment
• Disclosure of ESG targets
• Report of the “comply or explain” provisions and ESG report flowchart
• Materiality table by industry and aspect

4. HKEx – ESG Reporting Guidance on Corporate Governance Code

• Principles of good corporate governance, code provisions and governance structure
• Code Provisions on Chairman and Chief Executive and Management functions
• Directors’ responsibilities, delegation, and board proceedings
• Audit committee, internal control and risk management
• Shareholders engagement
• HKEx mandatory disclosure requirements in the Corporate Governance Code

5. HKEx – ESG Reporting Guidance on Subject Area A: Environmental KPIs

• Environmental: (1) emissions; (2) use of resources; (3) the environment and natural resources and (4) climate change
• Emissions factors, emissions data and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3
• Use of resources: (1) direct/indirect energy consumption; (2) water consumption; (3) energy use efficiency target(s)
• Significant impacts of activities on the environment and natural resources and the actions taken to manage them
• Significant climate-related issues
• Physical risks and transition risks of climate change

6. HKEx – ESG Reporting Guidance on Subject Area B: Social KPIs

• Social: (1) employment; (2) health and safety; (3) development and training; (4) labour standards; (5) supply chain management; (6) product responsibility; (7) anti-corruption and (8) community investment
• Total workforce by gender, employee category, age group, and geographical region
• Occupational health and safety measures
• General supply chain management strategy, supply chain environmental and social risk assessment and green procurement
• Consumer protection measures, intellectual property rights, quality management and consumer privacy
• Preventive measures, whistle-blowing procedures, and anti-corruption training

7. The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) – ESG Fund and Investment Reporting Requirements

• Application of the climate-related risk requirements under the Fund Manager Code of Conduct (FMCC)
• Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance by HKMA
• Climate-related data availability
• Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
• Disclosure of ESG and climate-related risks in investment and risk management processes
• Guidelines of ESG fund disclosure

8. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) – Climate Risk Management in Banking

• Overview of climate-related issues under supervisory policy manual GS-1
• Responsibilities of the board and senior management of authorised institutions 
• Setting of climate goals, actions, risk appetite, strategic assessment and stakeholder engagement
• Risk identification & measurement, scenario analysis and stress testing
• Monitoring and reporting of exposure of operation to climate-related risks
• Climate-related disclosure in banking under the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations
• Nationally Determined Contributions, related carbon tax and carbon market

1. Major Driving Factors of ESG and Climate Reporting and Strategy

• Importance of ESG and climate reporting
• Key rationales and drivers of sustainability reporting
• Integrating the communication channels into the ESG and climate reporting and strategy

2. ESG and Climate Disclosure and Reporting Frameworks

• Overview and comparison of major ESG and climate reporting frameworks - Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD), International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) and HKEx
• IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures 
• Material ESG issues
• Tools and methods for materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement
• Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI)

3. ESG and Climate-related Data and Performance Indicators

• Key ESG and climate-related performance indicators
• Defining, measuring, and reporting ESG and climate-related metrics
• Understanding data and analytics for ESG and climate assessment

4. ESG Assurance and Verification

• Importance of ESG assurance and verification
• Types of ESG assurance and verification
• Benefits and challenges of ESG assurance and verification

5. Financial Statement Analysis and Sustainability

• Environmental issues in financial accounting and reporting
• Relevant cost analysis for sustainability
• Capital budgeting decisions and sustainability management
• System of accounting for Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol and climate change
• Integrating sustainability into financial analysis practices

6. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for ESG and Climate Reporting

• Fundamentals of generative AI
• Using generative AI to streamline Scope 3 emissions reporting
• Natural language processing for ESG and climate data, image and visual analysis
• Applications of generative AI for ESG and climate reporting and compliance

7. Sustainability Strategy Formulation

• Financial Bottom Line management (FBL), Triple Bottom Line management (TBL), and Social and Ecological Thought management (SET)
• Strategy analysis – internal and external factors, Porter’s five forces, SWOT analysis and core competencies analysis
• Change management strategy
• Blue ocean strategy and sustainability
• Stakeholders as a source of innovation and transforming operations 

8. Integration of ESG and Climate Change into Corporate Strategy Implementation and Continuous Improvement

• Integrating ESG and climate change considerations into business strategy and decision-making
• Best practices for tracking and reporting progress on ESG and climate goals
• Innovations in ESG and climate data collection and analysis
• Case studies of successful ESG integration

1. Introduction to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing

• Nature of ESG investing
• Major ESG megatrends and underlying issues of ESG investing
• Key market drivers in ESG investing

2. Environmental Factors

• Climate change mitigation and circular economy
• Environmental initiatives, carbon pricing and carbon trading systems
• Environmental analysis in company, sector and country levels
• Environmental factor evaluation in financial analysis and risk assessment

3. Social Factors

• Globalisation, wealth inequality, digital disruption and demographics
• Human capital, product liability, stakeholder opposition and social media
• Social factor analysis in potential investment opportunities
• Social factor evaluation in financial analysis and risk assessment

4. Corporate Governance Factors

• Global development of corporate governance, board structure, and systems and process
• Role of auditors in corporate governance, conflicts of interest and auditor liability
• Business ethics, transparency and disclosure
• Governance factor evaluation in financial analysis and risk assessment

5. Approaches to ESG investing

• Exclusion-based ESG investing
• Integration-based ESG investing
• Impact and engagement-based ESG investing

6. ESG Analysis, Valuation and Integration 

• Different approaches of integrating ESG analysis into a firm’s investment process
• Impact of ESG risk on portfolio management
• ESG valuation models
• The role of ESG data providers and data sources
• Approaches of ESG data analysis

7. ESG Integrated Portfolio Construction and Management

• Impact of ESG factors on asset allocation and portfolio management
• Major indices and benchmarking approaches in ESG investing
• ESG screening of individual companies and investment funds
• Risk-return dynamic of portfolio optimisation and ESG investing
• ESG integration in asset management strategy

8. ESG Investing, Portfolio Analytics and Client Reporting 

• Common features of ESG investing and portfolio analytics
• Key mechanisms for client reporting, monitoring performance and mandate alignment with client objectives
• Major challenges in measuring and reporting ESG-related investment performance

1. Introduction to ESG and Sustainability Management

• Perspectives and interlinkages of current sustainable issues and the role of organisational management
• Importance and benefits of ESG and sustainability management
• Key sustainable operational challenges for organisations
• Low carbon transition - setting net zero goal and transition plan at corporate level
• Management systems for ESG and sustainability

2. Environmental Management and Social Sustainability

• Climate risk management and climate scenario analysis
• GHG emissions and resource conservation
• Social sustainability strategies - human rights, labour standards, community engagement, diversity and inclusion

3. Stakeholder Engagement and Sustainability Management

• Importance of stakeholder engagement and involvement in ESG management
• ESG metrics and stakeholder analysis
• Stakeholder engagement: challenges and strategies

4. Sustainability Leadership and Governance

• Sustainable corporate governance models
• Purpose-driven leadership and incentive systems for sustainability initiatives
• Development of corporate governance mechanisms and sustainability culture within an organisation
   

5. Circular Economy and Sustainable Business Models

• Fundamentals of a circular economy  
• Characteristics of sustainable business models
• Benefits of incorporating sustainability in business operations
• Approaches to sustainable-oriented innovation in Hong Kong and Mainland China

6. Sustainable Consumption

• Perspectives of consumption and environmental impacts
• Ecological footprint, fair trade certification and carbon compensation
• The role of consumption in shaping social identities and practices
• Strategies for promoting sustainable consumption in Hong Kong and Mainland China

7. Sustainability Marketing

• Sustainability marketing concepts and frameworks
• Sustainable consumer behaviour
• Cause-related marketing
• Transformational marketing with ESG in Hong Kong and Mainland China

8. Sustainable Supply Chain Management

• Sustainable supply chain frameworks and standards
• Key performance indicators for supply chain sustainability measurement
• Green procurement and sourcing
• Sustainable logistics and transportation
• Energy and carbon management

9. Sustainable Human Resource Management

• Linkage between sustainable human resource management and corporate sustainability
• Performance management for sustainability
• Employee engagement and development for sustainability
• Sustainable talent acquisition and management in Hong Kong and Mainland China

10. Case Studies and Best Practices in ESG and Sustainability Management

• Emerging trends of circular economy, sustainable supply chains and sustainable business model innovation
• Review and analysis of case studies and best practices of successful ESG and sustainability management in Hong Kong and Mainland China
• Developing an action plan for ESG and sustainability management in organisations in Hong Kong and Mainland China