This programme is one of the Eligible Programmes under the Pilot Green and Sustainable Finance Capacity Building Support Scheme, (https://greentalent.org.hk/).

ESG Workshop on Reporting and Assurance (WSHP24102401)

Businesses are facing more restrictions on the materials they use, the products they produce, and the safety of their facilities as sustainability becomes increasingly important. Both voluntary and involuntary restrictions are being imposed by a variety of different industry initiatives as well as governmental and non-governmental organizations, many of which overlap and each with its own reporting requirements. Business compliance and assurance functions face an increasing number of demands due to the need to verify adherence to these growing standards and restrictions.

At this stage of global efforts to address climate change, assurance services are particularly important, as cap-and-trade systems for carbon proliferate and the need to verify carbon credits that can be traded internationally increases.

Besides being necessary to ensure compliance, assurance can play a pivotal role in dispelling scepticism arising from some unfounded promotions of products as "green" and some sustainability reports in which elaborate descriptions of green activities mask de facto continuations of business as usual. Reliable assurances of claims that a particular product exacts less of a toll on resources and other aspects of sustainability can help to restore confidence in and support for bona fide sustainable business efforts.

This workshop has been created to assist members of HKICPA to strengthen their technical knowledge of ESG data governance and assurance.

In this workshop, the speakers will cover:

• ESG reporting
  • ESG reporting framework and development
  • Principles and key steps of ESG reporting
  • Common challenges and practical insights

• ESG data assurance
  • ESG assurance overview (type, scope and market practices)
  • Values of ESG data assurance
  • Steps to ESG assurance