Nature Finance, Data and Policy is moving at pace in China

Last week, whilst for many the attention was on NYC Climate Week, I was in Shanghai and Beijing, supported by Bank of China, the Institute of Finance and Sustainability (IFS) and UNDP BioFin programme. We met over 100 policy makers, finance professionals, environment and data group individuals and experienced first-hand Green Finance taking hold and the progress being made on TNFD capacity building and adoption. Momentum is building and promises a bright future for not just nature finance in China, but the environment too. It was great to visiting Beijing after four years and being able to breath fresh air. Concerted efforts on policy, monitoring and managing factory pollution have had a clear impact. On a broader industry-wide scale, there have been a number of important developments that have global as well as China-wide ramifications.

• Earlier this year the three exchanges (Shanghai Stock, Beijing and Shenzhen) released guidelines for the preparation of sustainability reports for listed companies, aligned to the same four pillars of the TNFD recommended disclosures (Governance, Strategy, Risk & Impact Management and Metrics & Targets).
• On 28 March 2025, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) updated its Administrative Measures for the Information Disclosure by Listed Companies.
• In January this year, with the approval of PBOC and others, the Bank of China joined the TNFD as the 40th Taskforce member, IFS was appointed the convener of our Chinese Mainland Consultation Group, Hong Kong Green Finance Association and Business Environment Council were appointed co-conveners of our Hong Kong Consultation Group, and UNDP is the lead partner for IKI-funded capacity-building efforts around TNFD in China.

Last week’s visit included deep discussions and workshops with policy makers, environmental groups, corporates and finance:

Workshop at Bank of China, Shanghai Branch

• Regulators like China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) have issued disclosure guidance and a green finance taxonomy with the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and are moving further to incorporate more aspects of nature supported by the Ministry of Environment and Ecology (MEE). The exchanges are now receiving sustainability disclosures from over 1,300 listed companies.
• Shanghai Data Group is now collecting emissions data from over 1m entities as well as supporting green certification and lending, supporting 3.8 million entities. China now has possibly the largest and comprehensive emissions and pollution data collection and monitoring in the world and a growing ecosystem of nature tech providers like the BIA (Biodiversity Impact Assessment) tool from the Shan Shui Conservation Center – the first tool from China to be listed on the TNFD data catalyst.
• The Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange (SEEE) is now the world’s largest carbon market, now extending beyond power companies to high-emitting industries, as well as looking at nature-based solutions to incorporate nature into carbon projects
• There are now have over 20 Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) adopters from Mainland China and Hong Kong and there is a growing list of new adopters as we progress towards our TNFD COP30 adoption deadline.

In many discussions, the topic of alignment to global standards, like GRI and ISSB, came up, along with the need to ensure that global regulatory frameworks ensure simplicity and interoperability. China is the global supply chain of many industries, and the more aligned global standards and frameworks are, the easier and more effective nature-aligned information can be and the more we can re-direct finance to nature-positive outcomes globally.