HSBC Climate Tech Connect Programme launches at Hong Kong Green Week

The HSBC Climate Tech Connect Programme launched on the first day of Hong Kong Green Week, with a focus on bringing together corporates, investors and innovators to fast-track climate technology adoption in the real economy.

Developed in partnership with TERA-Award and the new Green Accelerator platform, the 12-week initiative connects HSBC clients with climate tech pioneers through one-to-one introductions, tech showcase sessions and follow-up working meetings.

The ultimate goal is for these connections to lead to pilots and commercial partnerships where climate technology is deployed – this aligns with our aim of supporting customer transitions across all industries.

“Climate tech doesn't have an innovation problem, it has a deployment problem,” said Natalie Blyth, Global Head of Sustainable Finance and Transition, HSBC.

“The challenge is getting solutions into supply chains, factories, buildings and infrastructure at the speed and scale required because the transition is now an economic, competitiveness and technology story.”

Programme participants are focused on deploying solutions to sustainability challenges across energy, water and waste management.

“At HSBC, we see our role as connecting innovators, corporates, investors and ecosystem partners to turn promising technologies into real-world commercial outcomes,” added Natalie.

“Success will be measured not by meetings, but by deployment: customers secured, investment mobilised and transition outcomes delivered.”

Partnering with innovators

More than 125 clients attended the launch event on 7 September 2026, including our partners TERA-Award and Green Accelerator, who will feed through promising tech-based solutions to the connect programme.

TERA-Award, founded in 2021, hosts an annual climate-themed competition that has attracted more than 2,500 projects from 76 countries and awarded a total of US$4.65 million in prize money.

It also connects cutting-edge innovators with real-world application opportunities, industry partners and capital to support the commercialisation and growth of climate tech.

Green Accelerator, also launched at Hong Kong Green Week, is a philanthropy-funded, non-profit platform dedicated to preparing scalable, bankable green projects in emerging markets.

We’re the first commercial bank to support this government-backed initiative.

“The Green Accelerator goes straight to mending the gap between ambition and deployment,” said David Liao, Co-CEO of Asia and Middle East, HSBC.

“Philanthropic capital will be used to support project design, and provide technical assistance and capacity building so technologies can be implemented at speed and at scale.”

Transition’s commercial imperative

The HSBC Climate Tech Connect Programme and its partners all share the same goal – to help economies to transition with smart, sustainable and commercial solutions.

“Recent developments in the energy market in 2026 have only reinforced the urgency to move forward from concepts to execution,” added David.

“Our shared ambition is to build, finance, insure, and scale clean energy technologies that increase energy independence, lower costs, reduce pollution, and build a healthier, greener, more secure future for humanity.”

Global corporate transition spending, currently estimated at US$2.3 trillion per year, is expected to increase to US$3.6 trillion per year by 2030, our Chief Sustainability Officer, Julian Wentzel told the South China Morning Post (opens in new window).

However, attendees of the Climate Tech Connect launch event heard that climate tech companies only raised US$77 billion in equity last year, during a fireside chat with representatives of the Hong Kong Green Finance Association, Full Vision Capital and KKR.

Natalie added: “Climate technology has moved from the margins to the mainstream of the investment conversation in Asia and nowhere is that more visible than here in Hong Kong.

“Hong Kong is fast becoming the region’s green finance and green tech gateway, with 48% of Asia’s total green finance coming from Hong Kong in 2025, totalling US$47 billion.”

David reinforced this point in his remarks, saying how the city is Asia's leading international financial hub, and will continue to be critical for connecting capital with opportunity, helping align supply chains, and creating pathways for investment into technology and solutions that can scale.