The Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) cohosted the 2026 Beijing International Sustainability Conference at MCDF headquarters in Beijing on 23 April, together with the Beijing Office of the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation, Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), China Construction Bank, and Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Participants from International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) management, government ministries, international organizations, and the private sector discussed how adopting ISSB standards for disclosing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information can enhance access to finance and more resilient financial systems as well as ways to take this work forward.
The conference opened with updates on ISSB’s development of nature-related disclosure standards by IFRS Foundation Managing Director, Mr. Michel Madelain, and ISSB Chair, Mr. Emmanuel Faber, and remarks by Mr. Qiyun Li, Director General at China’s Finance Ministry, on the country’s impending rollout of a unified national sustainability disclosure standards system aligned with ISSB but covering a wider range of sustainability topics.
In his welcome speech, MCDF CEO Zhongjing Wang explained that transparency and information disclosure underpin the application of international sustainability standards in many different areas, including those that relate to the promotion of high-quality connectivity infrastructure investment in developing countries through partnerships.
CEO Wang discussed MCDF’s grant funding for environmental and social impact assessments and climate risk analyses of infrastructure projects in the transport, energy, telecommunications, and transboundary water management sectors and explained that by disclosing project opportunities and risks, MCDF helps to make these projects bankable.
“MCDF collaborates with developing country governments, International Financial Institutions, and other partners to provide grants for upstream project preparation and capacity building and organizes information and knowledge-sharing activities to facilitate the application of International Financial Institution standards,” said CEO Wang.
“MCDF focuses on standards on debt sustainability; environmental and social standards; climate change and clean energy; preventing and combatting fraud and corruption; procurement; and transparency and disclosure of information,” he continued. “Standards on transparency and disclosure underpin the effectiveness of the other standards that MCDF covers, which is why we support this important conference.”
Mr. Ajay Pandey, Vice President of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), an MCDF Implementing Partner and MCDF Coordination Committee member, said that AIIB is leading by example in voluntarily aligning its sustainability reports with ISSB standards. He said AIIB does not do it as a “box-ticking” exercise but to strengthen its internal governance, data systems, and decision-making.
Mr. Dongxiao Chen, SIIS President, pointed out that despite some recent setbacks, the global green transition will continue, aided by support from China, technological innovation, and the growth in ESG-driven investment flows. Improving the disclosure of information on ESG is an essential part of this process, he noted.
The conference went on to feature a dialogue with investors, who emphasized the value of ISSB’s sector-specific standards in providing a consistent measurement for investors to compare across companies and jurisdictions. A dialogue with companies noted that a key reporting challenge is the lack of data and that proportionate and practical data governance is critical.
A dialogue with regulators from Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, and Malaysia explored how they are supporting the adoption of ISSB standards by companies. A dialogue with IFIs, including AIIB, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Monetary Fund, and World Bank Group, highlighted the role that IFIs can play in improving the overall disclosure ecosystem, such as by bridging diverse stakeholders.
In closing remarks, Ms. Minwen Zhang, Director of the IFRS Foundation Beijing Office and Special Advisor to the ISSB Chair, thanked the conference’s supporting organizations, particularly MCDF for ensuring its smooth operations. She identified three key messages from the conference: first, confirmation of ISSB standards as a global baseline for sustainability disclosures; second, adoption of ISSB standards requires in-depth engagement with regulators, companies, and investors; and third, IFIs and partners such as MCDF can provide crucial support for ecosystem-wide capacity building.
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David Hendrickson
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david.hendrickson@themcdf.org
