Editor's note: [ESG Truth]

In 2026, the construction of China's ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) system has entered the substantive implementation stage from framework building.

From the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to various exchanges, the policy map is becoming increasingly clear. On the enterprise side, ESG has also evolved from an additional question to a mandatory question related to market access and long-term competitiveness.

However, despite the surge in ESG report disclosures, issues such as formalism, data distortion, and cognitive dissonance remain prominent. How can ESG move from report aesthetics to true value creation?

We continue to track this process and invite reform witnesses, in-depth observers, and practitioners to jointly explore the real issues related to ESG vitality in the conference room, on the front line of projects, and behind the data flow.

This article is the 22nd in the 'ESG Truth' series of reports.

Economic Observer reporter Wang Yajie

In 2026, A-shares will enter the first year of mandatory disclosure of sustainable development reports by listed companies. At the regular policy briefing held by the State Council Information Office on September 14th, the China Securities Regulatory Commission introduced that the "Guidelines for Sustainable Development Reports of Listed Companies" have specifically set up the issue of equal treatment for small and medium-sized enterprises. As of the end of April 2026, over a hundred companies that have disclosed sustainability reports have complied with the requirement to disclose information on this issue. Prior to this, on January 30th, under the guidance of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and North Stock Exchanges revised and released the "Guidelines for the Compilation of Sustainable Development Reports for Listed Companies", adding three application guidelines for pollutant emissions, energy utilization, and water resource utilization. ESG has evolved from a bonus question to a mandatory question that relevant companies must complete.

Hou Cuiqin is the Senior General Manager of the Asia Pacific region and General Manager of the China region of the CFA Institute, as well as a CFA holder. She has been tracking the Chinese green finance talent market for a long time. In her view, the core of the ESG talent gap is shifting from quantity to quality, and companies are increasingly in need of mid to senior level talents who can integrate ESG logic with their own business strategies.

Economic Observer: 2026 is the first year of mandatory ESG disclosure for A-shares, and the industry is shifting from whether to do it to how to do it. What do you think about the current talent issues in the ESG industry?

Hou Cuiqin:The CFA Institute was registered and established in the United States in 1986, with over 200000 licensees in more than 160 countries and regions, and nearly 9000 licensees in China. Compared to the number of candidates for the CFA Level 1 exam, China ranks among the top three in the world. The "2026 China Green Finance and ESG Investment Research Report" released by CFA Institute on September 2 (covering 1045 financial practitioners in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, hereinafter referred to as the "Report") shows that about 90% (89.1%) of enterprises have promoted green finance related work, of which nearly 70% (66.8%) have entered the practical stage, and more than 20% (22.3%) have achieved mature applications.At the same time, the core of the talent gap has shifted from a quantity gap to a quality gap. Enterprises are increasingly focusing on the strategic thinking ability of talents, requiring practitioners to integrate ESG logic with the overall business strategy of the institution, rather than just treating it as a compliance task.

Economic Observer: When it comes to the actual business of a bank or fund company, what kind of people are most lacking? Can they do ESG data analysis, design carbon finance and transformational financial products, or can they truly incorporate ESG into investment research and risk control decisions?

Hou Cuiqin:These types of business scenarios are very common. The top three application scenarios that practitioners have participated in the most are ESG themed investment and sustainable equity investment (57.2%), carbon finance and transformational financial products (50.1%), and ESG research and analysis (48.5%). In addition, green project evaluation and due diligence (38.1%), related product design, system development, and data management (36.5%), and ESG risk management and compliance review (33.2%) are also businesses that a large number of practitioners are involved in.

Specifically for banks or fund companies, demand is shifting from a single green financial product to a comprehensive capability covering investment, research, products, risk control, and compliance. These types of mid to senior level talents will be even scarcer.

Economic Observer: The sustainable disclosure standards of the Ministry of Finance are being promoted in parallel with the mandatory disclosure of A-shares, and the international ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board) and CSRD (EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) are simultaneously exerting pressure. What are the biggest practical difficulties faced by practitioners?

Hou Cuiqin:The report shows that among the multiple factors that lower the confidence of practitioners' skills, "inconsistent and difficult to grasp domestic and foreign standards" and "lack of access to high-quality and available data channels" rank second (affecting 42.5% of practitioners each), second only to the top ranked "lack of systems and professional training opportunities" (44.1%).

When Chinese companies expand their overseas business and international footprint, they also face practical problems: how to ensure that their ESG disclosure meets both domestic and international regulatory requirements? How to enable practitioners to both understand China's institutional framework and master global rules proficiently has always been the most complex and challenging part of the issue.

Linking with local practices is a key focus of CFA Institute's long-term development strategy. The CFA Institute has established a professional certification system around sustainable investment and ESG, with the aim of enabling practitioners to systematically master the knowledge and skills required to incorporate ESG factors into investment decisions. One of the localization measures is to add Chinese local elements beyond the existing global framework, such as local cases and disclosure standards, to help practitioners understand international rules while also implementing local practices. Taking the Sustainable Investment Certificate as an example, the CFA Institute is considering incorporating local cases and disclosure standards into its curriculum.

Economic Observer: For practitioners, can obtaining professional qualification certification bring real career dividends? Is the difficulty in bridging the quality gap rooted in institutions not allocating resources to ESG as a core business?

Hou Cuiqin:Professional qualification certification is a bridge that connects the job requirements of enterprises with the supply of talent capabilities.

Related enterprises are increasingly emphasizing professional certification as a screening criterion for professional competence. According to the white paper compiled by CFA Institute based on the comprehensive data of supply and demand for intelligent recruitment in the first half of 2025 and 2026, the penetration rate of certification requirements for financial positions in the first half of 2026 has increased from 8.9% in 2025 to 10.8% across the industry, and certification qualifications are becoming a strong proof of professional standards.

Taking CFA certification as an example, among financial positions that require professional certificates, the mention rate of CFA certification reaches 57.5%, ranking first among various financial professional certificates. The job requirements for CFA certification cover investment research, transaction execution, and positions related to capital operations, and also extend to real economy industries such as new energy, AI (artificial intelligence), and high-end manufacturing. But CFA certification is not a path to a position, but a professional foundation for financial talents to establish composite abilities. The future demand for talent is not to add more labels or obtain more certificates, but to build a capability system that can be continuously migrated and iterated.

95% of practitioners perceive that the importance of this business is increasing, with 40% (39.5%) believing there is a significant improvement. Over 90% of enterprises (92.3%) have increased their investment in green finance and ESG investment talent development in the past two years, with increased investment in talent recruitment and training.

Economic Observer: Practitioners need real cases and practical guidance the most. The lack of authoritative training systems exacerbates the skills gap. How can we understand this gap between clear demand and insufficient supply?

Hou Cuiqin:On the demand side, talent shortage has become a common problem in the industry. Up to 97% of the surveyed companies stated that they are facing varying degrees of talent gaps in green finance and ESG investment, and this gap will continue to widen in the next three years.

On the supply side, the lack of systematic professional training has become the primary factor weakening the confidence of practitioners. More than three-quarters (75.6%) of the surveyed practitioners expressed a need to obtain authoritative professional qualification certification. The lack of a unified ability standard makes it difficult for talents to prove their own value, and also makes financial institutions lack reliable basis for key position allocation.

In terms of interdisciplinary integration training, green finance requires cross-border talents who understand both financial market rules and environmental and ESG knowledge, and possess comprehensive abilities covering policy, academic, financial, and real economy fields. More than half of the respondents (54%) encountered this challenge.

Talents are the underlying driving force for industry development, and challenges such as information disclosure mechanisms and industry standard setting ultimately rely on cross disciplinary professional talents to promote implementation. In practical operation, evaluating the authenticity and credibility of data, and measuring the weight of different data, all require professional talents to complete. What practitioners need most is not theoretical courses, but full process practical training.

Economic Observer: The report shows that 31.8% of companies in Shenzhen have entered ESG mature applications, significantly higher than the overall level of 22.3%. How is this urban gradient difference formed?

Hou Cuiqin:More than 30% (31.8%) of companies in Shenzhen have reached the stage of mature ESG application, leading the way in green finance practices. In 2020, Shenzhen introduced the country's first green finance regulation and was the first to implement mandatory environmental information disclosure. In terms of product innovation, Shenzhen is at the forefront, with multiple national firsts in areas such as carbon finance, cross-border green credit, and green asset securitization. Policy first provides clear direction guidance, and product innovation opens up space for business exploration. These are the foundations for Shenzhen enterprises to move from observation to practice and even mature application stages earlier.

Economic Observer: From the perspective of the industry shifting from scale expansion to value creation in the second half of 2026, what is the portrait of the most scarce ESG talents in the next 1-2 years? What are the most practical suggestions for enterprises and individuals respectively?

Hou Cuiqin:What the market needs is no longer a single professional talent who only understands finance, but a composite talent, which combines financial professional knowledge base, industry understanding ability, digitalization and data analysis ability, as well as rich practical experience and judgment, and strategic thinking of composite middle and high-level professional talents. They are able to integrate multidimensional information, make comprehensive judgments based on practical experience, and have strategic thinking when facing complex ESG data, standards, and policies. They can truly integrate ESG factors into investment and business decisions.

In the future, talent cultivation will evolve towards a composite, specialized, and practical direction, that is, towards a composite capability model of "professional+industry+digital+decision-making power".

For job seekers in the financial industry, it is necessary to build a ladder style ability growth path based on their career development stages, using systematic financial professional knowledge as the foundation, and combining industry cognition, digital skills, and professional ethics to form a composite competitiveness that can cross cycles.

For financial enterprises and industry institutions, it is necessary to optimize the certificate screening criteria based on job attributes, build a composite talent recruitment and internal training system, deepen school enterprise collaboration, and jointly promote the development of the financial talent team.

(Author Wang Yajie)