Bank of China (London Branch)

Bank of China updated its green bond assurance report from the Luxembourg Branch (2023) to the Frankfurt Branch (2024), with two substantive changes to standards alignment. The newer version expands the criteria framework to include the Common Ground Taxonomy for Climate Change Mitigation, developed by the International Platform on Sustainable Finance with EU-China co-leadership, in addition to the Green Bond Principles 2021. The report also shifts the date of assessment from April 19, 2022 to June 7, 2022, reflecting the different branch issuance timeline. These additions strengthen the alignment with international taxonomy standards and demonstrate Bank of China's commitment to harmonized climate classification frameworks.

• added Standards Alignment — Added Common Ground Taxonomy - Climate Change Mitigation (CGT) released by International Platform on Sustainable Finance (IPSF) Taxonomy Working Group as an additional criterion alongside Green Bond Principles 2021
• expanded Standards Alignment — Expanded criteria framework from single standard (GBP 2021) to dual standards including EU-China co-chaired taxonomy framework

The 2023 version represents a significant structural change from the 2022 version. The 2022 version is a substantive Management Statement describing Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited's green bond framework with detailed eligible project categories. The 2023 version is an EY assurance report on Bank of China Macau Branch's 2022 green bond, which is a third-party verification document rather than the issuer's own framework statement. While both documents reference the Green Bond Principles 2021, they serve different purposes—one is the issuer's commitments and the other is external assurance. The eligible project categories from the 2022 framework are not reproduced in the 2023 assurance report excerpt provided, making it unclear whether the categories themselves changed or were merely not included in this particular document section.

• modified Standards Alignment — Both versions reference Green Bond Principles 2021, but the 2023 version adds International Standard on Assurance Engagements 3000 (Revised) as the governing standard for third-party verification, whereas the 2022 version only referenced the Sustainability Bond Guidelines 2021 and Green Bond Principles 2021.
• modified Reporting or governance commitments — The 2023 version introduces a mandatory third-party limited assurance engagement by EY covering use of proceeds, project evaluation and selection processes, proceeds management, and reporting, which was not present in the 2022 self-assessment approach.