引入转型金融与气候适应目标：香港可持续金融分类目录（Phase 2A）解读

在全球气候治理持续深化、可持续金融标准不断趋严的背景下，香港金融管理局（HKMA）于2026年1月正式发布《香港可持续金融分类目录（Phase 2A）》。该分类目录旨在为金融市场提供一套基于科学、具备可操作性和国际可比性的经济活动分类框架，以支持绿色金融和转型金融的发展，并降低“漂绿”风险。

Phase 2A 在 Phase 1 的基础上，将覆盖行业由 4 个扩展至 6 个，新增制造业和信息与通信技术（ICT）领域，同时经济活动数量由 12 项增至 25 项，覆盖场景显著拓宽，并引入转型金融要素，新增“气候变化适应”作为环境目标，标志着分类目录由单一绿色识别工具向兼顾绿色与转型的综合性分类框架转变。

Phase 2A 目前聚焦于以下两项环境目标：

1. 气候变化减缓：通过减少或避免温室气体排放，对实现《巴黎协定》1.5°C 气候目标作出实质性贡献；

2. 气候变化适应：提升经济活动和基础设施应对气候物理风险的韧性和适应能力。

在气候变化减缓目标下，分类目录基于经济活动与 1.5°C 温控目标脱碳路径一致性程度，对活动进行分级分类。

在 Phase 1 奠定绿色活动识别基础的前提下，《香港可持续金融分类目录（Phase 2A）》标志着香港可持续金融框架迈入新的阶段，首次在官方分类体系中系统性纳入转型金融（Transition Finance）标准。

Phase 2A 在推动环境目标的同时，兼顾经济发展和产业现实，旨在引导转型金融有效流向实体经济，减少转型过程中的结构性冲击，促进高碳行业的平稳过渡。

在气候变化减缓目标下，香港分类目录采用“绿色,转型或排除”的分类框架：

1.绿色活动：

已实现或接近零排放，或在技术水平及排放强度方面与《巴黎协定》1.5 °C 温控目标相一致的脱碳路径下的经济活动；

2.转型活动 / 转型措施：

处于具有时间约束(日落时间)的脱碳进程中的高碳排放活动，其运营正逐步与 1.5°C温控目标的脱碳路径相一致，并以 2050 年实现净零排放为最终目标。转型类别亦涵盖能够在短期内实现显著温室气体减排的相关活动或措施，即便该等活动或措施最终可能并不完全符合绿色活动标准。

3.排除活动：

与 1.5°C温控目标的脱碳 路径根本不相容，或存在长期高排放锁定风险的活动。

行业覆盖与技术标准

Phase 2A 下，香港可持续金融分类目录共覆盖六大行业，包括能源、交通运输、建筑、废弃物、制造业以及信息与通信技术（ICT）。在 Phase 1 原有四个行业的基础上，新增制造业和信息与通信技术，体现了对高排放工业领域转型需求以及数字化赋能减排作用的进一步关注。

Phase 2A显著扩大了分类目录所涵盖的经济活动范围。在原有基础上，该阶段不仅进一步拓展了能源与交通运输行业的覆盖边界，还纳入了一系列新的绿色及转型活动，包括但不限于：电力的输配、电力及可再生与低碳气体的输配、电力储存、区域供热与制冷，以及摩托车、乘用车和轻型商用车辆的运输活动，同时涵盖低碳交通基础设施的建设，以及建筑设备的安装、维护与修理等相关活动。

此外，该分类目录在制造业和信息与通信技术（ICT）领域新增了多项经济活动，涉及制氢及制氢装备制造、铝精炼与冶炼、数据处理与托管，以及以数据驱动方式支持温室气体减排相关的活动类型，显著拓宽了实体经济适用场景。

相较 Phase 1，Phase 2A 不仅在行业层面实现扩展，还首次系统性引入转型活动与转型措施，并配套设置与脱碳路径相一致、具有时间约束的技术筛选标准，标志着香港分类目录由单一绿色识别工具向兼顾绿色与转型的综合性分类框架升级。

在《香港可持续金融分类目录（Phase 2A）》中，气候变化适应作为独立的环境目标被正式纳入分类体系，标志着分类目录的适用范围由单一关注温室气体减排，拓展至系统性应对已显现且不断加剧的物理气候风险。适应目标的引入反映了对现实气候影响的充分认识，即使在符合《巴黎协定》减排路径的情形下，洪涝、水资源压力及极端天气事件仍将对资产安全、基础设施和经济活动构成持续性挑战。

在当前阶段，气候变化适应措施分类框架采取务实且分阶段推进的构建思路，以适应措施（Adapting Measures）为核心，而非完整的独立经济活动，并通过“白名单（Whitelist）”方法对具备明确适应成效的措施进行认定。符合白名单要求的适应措施可直接视为符合分类目录标准，无需适用复杂的技术阈值判断，该做法旨在应对现阶段数据与方法论限制，同时推动适应类投资的可操作性和规模化发展。

结合香港本地的气候风险特征，分类目录在适应目标下优先聚焦水务领域，重点覆盖应对洪涝风险和水资源压力的关键措施，包括防洪减灾、雨污分流、供水系统韧性提升以及水资源实时监测等，有助于降低物理脆弱性并增强整体适应能力。为确保分类结果的环境完整性，适应框架明确引入适应不当（maladaptation）风险的管控要求，对可能在其他区域、行业或群体中加剧气候风险暴露的措施予以排除。

总体而言，该框架为气候适应投融资提供了清晰、可信且可扩展的分类基础，并为未来逐步拓展至其他行业预留了空间。

Against the backdrop of deepening global climate governance and increasingly stringent sustainable finance standards, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) released the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance (Phase 2A) in January 2026. The Taxonomy provides a science-based, operational and internationally comparable classification framework to support the development of green and transition finance and to mitigate greenwashing risks.

Building on Phase 1, the number of sectors covered in Phase 2A expands from 4 to 6, with the addition of Manufacturing and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) as new sectors, while the number of taxonomy-defined economic activities increases from 12 to 25, significantly broadening the range of covered application scenarios, and introduces transition finance elements and adds climate change adaptation as an environmental objective, marking a shift from a purely green classification tool to a comprehensive framework covering both green and transition activities.

Phase 2A currently addresses two environmental objectives: 

• Climate change mitigation, by reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C climate goals; and 

• Climate change adaptation, by enhancing resilience and adaptive capacity to physical climate risks. 

For activities assessed under climate change mitigation, the Taxonomy classifies activities based on their degree of alignment with a 1.5°C-aligned decarbonisation pathway. 

Building on the foundation established in Phase 1, the Hong Kong Taxonomy Phase 2A marks a significant milestone in Hong Kong’s sustainable finance framework by formally introducing transition finance into its classification system.

In doing so, Phase 2A seeks to balance environmental ambition with economic realities, enabling the mobilisation and scaling-up of transition finance while minimising disruption to carbon-intensive industries and supporting a smooth and orderly transition.

Under the climate change mitigation objective, the Hong Kong Taxonomy adopts a “Green, Transition or Exclusion” classification framework:

• Green Activities: 

  Activities that are near-zero emission or already aligned with a 1.5°C-aligned decarbonisation pathway in terms of technology and emissions intensity;

• Transition Activities / Measures: 

  Carbon-intensive activities that are on a time-bound (Sunset Date) decarbonisation journey to align their operations with a 1.5°C-aligned decarbonisation pathway, ultimately reaching net zero in 2050. The Transition category also covers transition activities or transition measures that enable substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, even if these activities or measures ultimately may or may not align with Green criteria.

• Exclusion Activities: 

  Activities fundamentally incompatible with a 1.5°C-aligned decarbonisation pathway or associated with long-term carbon lock-in risks.

Sectoral Coverage and Technical Criteria 

Under Phase 2A, the Hong Kong Taxonomy covers six key sectors: Energy, Transportation, Construction, Waste, Manufacturing, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Building on the four sectors included in Phase 1, the addition of Manufacturing and ICT reflects a stronger focus on hard-to-abate industrial activities and the role of digital solutions in enabling emissions reduction.

Phase 2A significantly expands the scope of covered economic activities. In addition to broadening the scope of the Energy and Transportation sectors by incorporating new green and transition activities such as transmission and distribution of electricity, transmission and distribution of renewable and low-carbon gases, storage of electricity, district heating and cooling, transport by motorbikes, passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, low-carbon transport infrastructure and installation, maintenance, and repair of building equipment. The Taxonomy introduces new activities under Manufacturing and ICT sectors related to hydrogen production and equipment manufacturing, aluminium refining and smelting, data processing and hosting, and data-driven solutions for greenhouse gas emissions reduction, thereby broadening its applicability across real-economy transition scenarios.

Compared with Phase 1, Phase 2A not only extends sectoral coverage, but also introduces transition activities and transition measures, together with sector-specific, time-bound technical criteria aligned with decarbonisation pathways. These enhancements mark a shift from a purely green classification approach to a more comprehensive framework that captures both green and transition activities.

Under Phase 2A of the Hong Kong Taxonomy for Sustainable Finance, climate change adaptation is formally introduced as a standalone environmental objective, expanding the scope of the Taxonomy beyond emissions mitigation to address physical climate risks that are already material and intensifying. The inclusion of adaptation reflects the growing recognition that, even under pathways aligned with the Paris Agreement, significant climate impacts such as flooding, water stress and extreme weather events will continue to pose systemic risks to assets, infrastructure and economic activity.

At the current stage, the Climate Change Adaptation Classification Framework adopts a pragmatic and phased approach, with a primary focus on adapting measures rather than standalone economic activities. A Whitelist methodology is applied to identify predefined adaptation measures that deliver clear and direct contributions to climate resilience, allowing such measures to be deemed taxonomy-aligned without the need for complex technical thresholds. This approach is intended to address existing data and methodological limitations while facilitating early adoption and scalability of adaptation-related investments.

Consistent with Hong Kong’s local climate risk profile, the framework prioritises the Water Sector as the initial focus area for adaptation, with particular emphasis on measures addressing flood damage and water stress. Eligible measures include investments that enhance flood prevention, stormwater management, water supply resilience and real-time water resource monitoring, all of which are critical to reducing physical vulnerability and strengthening adaptive capacity. To safeguard environmental integrity, the framework explicitly incorporates the concept of maladaptation risk, excluding measures that may inadvertently increase exposure or vulnerability to climate hazards in other locations, sectors or communities. 

Overall, the adaptation framework establishes a structured and credible foundation for scaling climate resilience financing, while allowing for future expansion to additional sectors as methodologies and data availability evolve.