Record-breaking heat, devastating droughts, deadly wildfires and heavy rain and severe floods around the world over recent months have sparked a new urgency in the search for practical solutions to climate change.

The challenge for governments is not only to generate cleaner sources of power, but also to use safer and more efficient energy technologies and storage systems that are affordable and scalable so they can have a global impact.

Hong Kong is increasingly positioning itself as an integral player in this transition. Locally, the city aims to cut its carbon emissions from the 2005 level by half before 2035, and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. This is aligned with China’s “dual carbon goals” – to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

Diane Wong Shuk-han, Hong Kong’s under secretary for environment and ecology, says: “As a ‘superconnector’ and ‘super value-adder’, Hong Kong can serve as a demonstration platform for green and low-carbon technologies and facilitate the export of technologies and products developed on the Chinese mainland and in Hong Kong.

“The city, as an international financial centre, can help provide green financing and professional services required to scale up green technologies across the region and globally, thereby dovetailing with the strategy of cultivating and expanding emerging and future industries under the national 15th five-year plan.”

As part of this sustainability push, InvestHK, the city government’s foreign investment agency, partnered with the United Kingdom’s Department of Business and Trade to lead a new energy and sustainability delegation, comprising representatives of 25 green technology companies from Hong Kong and the mainland, to the UK in June. They were able to study the latter’s energy transition journey and meet experts from government agencies and universities and potential investment partners.

The visit reflects a shift in Hong Kong’s role to become a global investment hub for green innovation. New energy is a policy-driven sector, so companies entering markets such as the UK must understand local business regulations, financing procedures and potential hurdles.

King Leung, InvestHK’s global head of financial services, financial technology and sustainability, says the government agency’s role involves much more than making introductions.

“We are responsible for the two-way business flows of helping foreign companies to enter the Hong Kong and mainland China markets, as well as for companies from our city and the mainland to expand internationally,” Leung says, adding that it strives to provide the critical “last mile” support to land in an overseas market.

He also says the agency is working closely with government departments and organisations such as the Environment and Ecology Bureau, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) – the government body promoting the city’s innovation and technology ecosystem – and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council to drive further green innovation in the city.

One company to benefit from the cross-departmental support is Jana Energy Technology, a Shenzhen-headquartered green technology start-up founded in April 2022. It specialises in the research, development and production of materials for sodium-ion batteries – a technology increasingly seen as a lower-cost complement to lithium-ion battery technology.

Cao Yuliang, the company’s founder, chairman and chief scientist, says his research team had originally researched producing lithium-ion batteries for consumer electronics and electric vehicles (EVs), but anticipated resource constraints led it towards developing sodium-ion alternatives.

“At the time, everyone began to imagine whether we could use cheaper, lower-cost resources, or resources that are easily obtainable, to achieve green energy storage,” Cao says.

Today, Jana Energy operates the world’s largest production line for polyanionic cathode materials – a class of fire-safe, highly durable compounds used in rechargeable batteries. The company has captured more than 60 per cent of that market segment, supplying its solutions to Chinese companies including battery manufacturers Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) and Eve Energy, and carmaker BYD, Cao says.

Jana Energy is also implementing sodium-ion battery applications across grid-side energy storage, integrated photovoltaic-storage-charging systems and specialised extreme environments.

To help drive its international growth, it established its overseas base at Hong Kong Science Park, in Pak Shek Kok, in 2024. Cao describes Hong Kong as an ideal springboard that “brings together talent, scientific research, various kinds of application information and also capital”.

Mainland companies make up more than 95 per cent of Jana Energy’s existing business, but it is looking to attract more international clients, which it hopes will form up to 30 per cent of its revenue in about 10 years’ time.

The company’s Hong Kong-based research and development team, which is responsible for identifying potential product needs for the overseas market, is now designing battery systems optimised for temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius (24.8 degrees Fahrenheit) to serve vehicle start-stop and energy storage markets in Northern Europe and North America.

InvestHK is continuing to support Jana Energy’s expansion efforts alongside HKSTP, which has provided the company with early capital via equity investment through an accelerator programme.

Cao says being part of InvestHK’s delegation to the UK helped his team to better understand how to present its technology to international partners and adapt its promotional strategy to Western market expectations, where clients prioritise robust intellectual property protection and fully commercialised, market-ready products over upstream supply-chain details.

For Jana Energy and other green tech start-ups, navigating global expansion requires more than just innovative products and solutions. Success overseas also requires finding the right business partners, tailored financing, legal protection and deep local understanding.

Jason Cheng, CEO and managing partner of Kerogen-CX Capital, a private equity firm focused on energy security and energy transition, believes Hong Kong’s burgeoning green finance ecosystem, professional services offerings and robust legal and regulatory systems make it well positioned to support cross-border deals, protect intellectual property and build investor confidence.

“Hong Kong is a great place for early-stage companies to find the resources, talent and execution capability,” he says. “It’s one of the largest sources of capital outside the US, particularly in the green sector in fields such as batteries, EVs and solar panels. The development of artificial intelligence and robotics will have a continuing influence on the growth of green technology.”

A report into Hong Kong’s sustainable finance ecosystem, published by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the city’s financial regulator, showed total green and sustainable debt instruments issued in the city last year exceeded US$76 billion. It also showed that Hong Kong remained Asia’s largest arranging hub for international green and sustainable bond issuances, accounting for 40 per cent of the region’s total volume.

Cheng cites EcoCeres, a Hong Kong-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) producer, as an example of how the city can support businesses in scaling up new energy solutions. “One of EcoCeres’ key competitive advantages is being able to leverage its proprietary technology and expertise to add more capacity on time and budget, more quickly than other players globally,” he says. “That’s one example where Hong Kong can play a leading role, because it already is one of the leading global producers of SAF.”

That model can be extended to other sectors, such as battery manufacturing, where Chinese companies – particularly those in cities within southern China’s Greater Bay Area development zone – can offer competitively priced manufacturing infrastructure and technical expertise that many other markets struggle to match, Cheng says.

For InvestHK, the aim is to connect these commercial opportunities with policy direction and market demand. Feedback shows that about 80 per cent of delegates on its UK visit plan to set up or expand their businesses within the next six months to two years, while several mainland Chinese companies have already been receiving active follow-up support from UK counterparts.

It will also be arranging further meetings with banks, law firms and insurers to help these companies with loans, trade finance, bond issuance, legal risk assessment, intellectual property protection and insurance needs related to their global expansion.

Leung says: “The UK trip in June wasn’t the end goal; it was just the beginning in our mission to help these companies land in the UK – to introduce them to the resources and connections necessary to make that happen.”