On May 31, the Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) released 2022 Environmental Information Disclosure (TCFD) Report (hereinafter referred to as the Report), its first Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures ever released.

The Report fully displays the great efforts and achievements PSBC made in 2022 in developing sustainable finance, green finance and climate financing, exploring transition finance and just transition, supporting biodiversity protection, and building itself into a first-class green, inclusive, climate-friendly and eco-friendly bank. In 2022, PSBC formulated an action plan for carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and set the goal of building a first-class green, inclusive, climate-friendly, and eco-friendly bank. By the end of 2022, PSBC had been awarded the “Advanced Unit in Green Bank Evaluation” by the China Banking Association in succession, and had been assigned an A by MSCI ESG ratings for two consecutive years.

In terms of product innovation, PSBC, leveraging its fund and network advantages, launched green financial products such as micro loans for photovoltaic solar power generation equipment, small hydropower loans, pollutant discharge loans, and garbage disposal charging rights-pledged loans around such key fields as pollution prevention and control, energy conservation and environmental protection, and ecological agriculture. It also developed innovative products to promote the integrated development of green finance and inclusive finance.

In terms of concrete practice, PSBC innovated a discounting product called “Green G Discount”, released the “STOXX PSBC China A ESG Index” on Deutsche Börse, and underwrote the first “sustainability-linked and energy supply” debt financing plan in China. As of the end of 2022, PSBC’s green loan balance reached 496.549 billion yuan (about 69.307 billion US dollars), a growth of 33.38 percent from the end of 2021. The investment balance of green bonds amounted to 29.95 billion yuan (about 4.18 billion US dollars), increasing by 29.58 percent from the end of 2021. The cumulative underwritten green bonds came to 11.77 billion yuan (about 1.64 billion US dollars). And the green financing balance was 583.232 billion yuan (about 81.402 billion US dollars), rising by 36.24 percent from the end of 2021.

In terms of risk management, PSBC formulated Environmental, Social and Governance Risk Management Measures, integrating ESG requirements into the whole process of credit management. It took the lead in cooperating with the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) to integrate the environmental protection data of the Blue Map Database into its “Jinjing” (Golden Eye) credit risk monitoring system, organized and carried out climate risk sensitivity stress tests and specialized screening of ESG and climate risks, and launched automatic identification of green labels and measurement of energy saved and emission reduced.

In terms of cooperation and exchanges, PSBC actively participated in seminars and exchanges organized by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration (formerly China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission), the China Banking Association, universities and research institutions. It also signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Supporting the Development of National Carbon Market and the Joint Declaration of Banking Sector to Support Biodiversity Conservation.

In terms of green operations, PSBC carried out a greenhouse gas emission accounting project and scientifically formulated a targeted carbon emission reduction plan. It launched the initiative of “Green Office, Low-carbon Lifestyle”. By the end of 2022, PSBC had inaugurated 24 green financial institutions such as carbon neutral sub-branches, green sub-branches and green finance centers.

In improving information disclosure in line with international standards, PSBC fully disclosed its environmental, social and governance performance through annual reports, interim reports, corporate social responsibility (ESG) reports, performance presentation and roadshows. At the same time, PSBC took the initiative to get aligned with international standards, adopted the Principles for Responsible Banking (PRB), joined the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI), became a supporting institution of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and signed the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Initiative of the United Nations, continuously improving the quality of information disclosure.