Hong Kong's taxonomy for sustainable finance phase 2A will continue to expand sustainable financing options for local and Asia-Pacific issuers, Sustainable Fitch said in a recent release.

Phase 2A covers the manufacturing and information and communications technology segments and includes climate adaptation as a new environmental goal.

The second phase also accounts for transition activities with sector-specific sunset dates and the region's decarbonization paths for emerging transitions, Sustainable Fitch said.

The ESG rating provider expects domestic issuers to reference the framework in their cross-border issuances and mainland China's regulators to consider it for transition-linked standard setting.

Aluminium's inclusion in the framework offers sector-specific transition steps that are not seen in other regional taxonomies, Sustainable Fitch said.

Other sectors in focus are hydrogen, maritime, and data centers, the ESG rating provider said.

The second phase builds on the taxonomy's first phase, which was released in 2024.