HKEX's Core Climate completes first cross-border pilot for green certificates and carbon emission allowances

On October 14, HKEX announced that two cross-border pilot programmes facilitated by its Core Climate platform had been successfully completed, and that it had signed a cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Power Exchange Center to support the further development of China's renewable energy green electricity certificate (GEC) market. The first pilot enabled Hong Kong enterprises to purchase GECs through Guangzhou Power Exchange Center; the second tested settlement arrangements for Shenzhen carbon emission allowance trading with Shenzhen Green Exchange. HKEX Group General Counsel and Group Chief Sustainability Officer Chow Koon-ying said: "The two pilots are an important step in strengthening the connectivity of green energy and carbon markets in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The GEC trading marks HKEX's first cooperation with an onshore power exchange center in Mainland China; the Shenzhen carbon emission allowance pilot has accumulated practical experience for deepening carbon market cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland China. We will strive to promote the commercial application of GECs in Hong Kong, with the goal of developing Core Climate into a channel capable of providing GEC trading and related services, and to strengthen collaboration with partners to jointly build a transparent, efficient and synergistic sustainable finance infrastructure in the region." The first pilot was conducted by HKEX in collaboration with Guangzhou Power Exchange Center, Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau and Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, bringing together 15 enterprises from different industries, with a total trading volume of approximately 100,000 GECs. GECs are nationally recognised energy attribute certificates, with each certificate representing one megawatt-hour of renewable energy electricity. GECs received full recognition from RE100 in March 2025; RE100 is a global initiative for companies committed to using 100% renewable energy electricity. Since then, GECs have increasingly become an important tool for companies to fulfil their renewable energy electricity commitments. Through raising market awareness and expanding application scenarios, the pilot provides Hong Kong enterprises with another credible tool to address Scope 2 emissions and advance decarbonisation goals. Building on the pilot, HKEX and Guangzhou Power Exchange Center have signed a cooperation agreement to establish a cross-border GEC trading channel and expand the use of GECs by Hong Kong enterprises. Both parties will focus on trading arrangements, practical application scenarios, knowledge sharing and market development, supporting the green transition of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and advancing green market connectivity in the region. In the second pilot, Core Climate provided settlement services for carbon emission allowance trading for three overseas institutions, marking the first cross-border settlement between onshore and offshore carbon exchanges and strengthening the connectivity between Hong Kong and Mainland China carbon markets. The Shenzhen carbon emission allowance pilot builds on the memorandum of cooperation signed between HKEX and Shenzhen Green Exchange in October 2023 to support the country's "dual carbon" goals and respond to the policy priorities of Mainland China and Hong Kong in exploring cross-border carbon trading and settlement, accumulating practical experience for the continued development of the regional carbon market. GEC pilot participants (in alphabetical order): Airport Authority Hong Kong Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited CGN (Guangdong) New Energy Investment Co., Ltd. CHINA POWER International Development Limited China Resources New Energy Holdings (Tengxian) Co., Ltd. GUOTAI JUNAN I Holdings Limited Henderson Land Development Company Limited Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited Nayong Shenzhen Energy New Energy Co., Ltd. Kuwa Zero Carbon Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited Shenzhen Energy (Luquan) Energy Development Co., Ltd. Bank of East Asia Limited HK & China Gas Limited Tianyang Shenzhen Energy Wind Power Co., Ltd. Shenzhen carbon emission allowance pilot participants (in alphabetical order): China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection (Hong Kong) Investment Co., Ltd. CICC Commodity Trading Limited Guotai Haitong Securities Co., Ltd. Huatai Securities Co., Ltd. Towngas (Shenzhen) PetroChina International (Hong Kong) Corporation Limited Shenzhen Energy Group Electricity Sales Co., Ltd. Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd. Shenzhen Qianhai Zhongtan Integrated Energy Technology Co., Ltd. Towngas (Shenzhen) Carbon Asset Operation Co., Ltd.