In addition to the ambitious 14th Five-Year Plan, Hong Kong can serve the national development goal. The HKMA has pledged to enhance the city's role as a regional green and sustainable finance hub to channel global investment in support of the nation's plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

Yue said: "The HKMA is setting clear rules for the financial industry on risk management and disclosure, such as building climate resilience into the banking system through formulating supervisory requirements and conducting a pilot exercise to test climate risk. It is also committed to mandatory related disclosures, in line with the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board's Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, no later than 2025."

The HKMA has set up the Centre for Green and Sustainable Finance and worked with the World Bank Group's International Finance Corporation on the Alliance for Green Commercial Banks to support environmental financing initiatives through capacity building and other measures.

The issuance of green bonds in the city will be assisted by the HKMA, promoting awareness and market participation. The monetary authority has also integrated ESG (environmental, social and governance) factors into the Exchange Fund's investment process, and has targeted issuance of the first batch of retail green bonds.

In November, the Hong Kong government issued $3.75 billion worth of green bonds denominated in the US dollar, the euro and the renminbi, marking the local administration's first offering of bonds in the euro and RMB. Moreover, it is the first government in Asia to issue green bonds in the euro as long as 20 years.

At the start of last year, the Hong Kong authorities put $2.5 billion worth of green bonds on the market, becoming the first Asian government to issue such bonds denominated in the US dollar as long as 30 years.

It is planned to issue an additional $22.5 billion worth of green bonds over the next five years in different currencies.