Asia’s Hub for Climate Action & Sustainable Business Solutions #OnlyWayForward

Roundtable Sessions

Roundtable Sessions

Room A

Registration for Roundtable Sessions will open in August.

Day 1 – Thursday 10 Sept

Supported by

10:00 – 11:30

Rethinking Community Making – Neighborhood Innovation (Conducted In Catonese)

10:00 – 11:30

Workshop will be conducted in Cantonese 工作坊將以廣東話舉行

What if the next frontier of place-based innovation is about laying the foundations for communities to thrive on their own terms? Building on existing community making efforts in Sham Shui Po, this roundtable workshop leaps from promoting “software” interventions to the underlying urban development system — by discovering the potential of the Community Foundation model. This intimate, small-group workshop is designed to enable delegates to co-investigate whether and how Community Foundation can become a replicable framework for place-based development and innovation in Hong Kong.

Session Learnings:

  • How can Community Foundation be designed for neighbourhoods at different stages of urban development? How might we lay the groundwork for instilling long-term community ownership?
  • What role can stakeholders play as long-term stewards, not just sponsors, of community engagement efforts?
  • How do we evaluate the health of a community foundation — beyond economic indicators, toward social cohesion and civic agency?

Post-Event Actions:

  • Personal reflection: what untapped community networks exist in your neighbourhood, and how might you engage as a participant, not just an observer?
  • Organisation reflection: could a community foundation approach elevate your current place-based urban development approach?
  • Identify one concrete step to shift your organisation’s community engagement from transactional giving towards shared ownership with the community

Speakers

Florence Cheng 鄭樂雯

Social Ventures Hong Kong

Chief Purpose Officer

Ms Florence Cheng is the Chief Purpose Officer of SVhk and Co-Founder of COSMOS, dedicated to designing impact solutions across business and community. She has advised 10+ companies, startups, social-purpose organisations (SPOs), and public bodies on inclusive employment, family wellbeing, and community empowerment—turning strategy into partnerships and measurable results. She spearheads cross‑sector platforms including the Community Resilience Fund and Business with Purpose, mobilising capital and corporate action. She also develops place‑based social innovations in Sheung Wan, Sham Shui Po, Kwun Tong, and the Northern Metropolis, integrating capital deployment and community-making.

An LSE alumna and a former consultant, she serves as a Member of the SIE Fund Task Force.

 

Harmony Li 李端儀

Social Ventures Hong Kong

Chief Community Officer

Harmony Li is the Chief Community Officer at Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVhk), she is also the Chief Empowerment Officer of HATCH (合廠) and COMM,ON (安所), two impact ventures dedicated to unleashing talent potentials in becoming change agents at workplace and in community. She possesses 15+ years of experience working in for-purpose sector, devoted to driving bottom-up participations and cross-sectoral collaborations in addressing social issues.

Supported by

12:00 – 13:30

Rethinking Social Impact Through AI Application

12:00 – 13:30

AI has the potential to drastically accelerate social impact creation and advance effective philanthropy, from impact measurement and reporting, grant writing and evaluation, to organizational admin and operations, and even strategizing for systems change.

Join us at this roundtable discussion to hear from social impact leaders about the various risks and benefits of AI adoption in the social impact space in Hong Kong. In addition to learning about FSI’s Shared Data Project and how it improves transparency and accountability in the social impact and philanthropy sectors, you will also get to discuss with cross-sector professionals the effective ways to use AI to create and communicate social impact.

Session Learnings:

  • Risks and benefits of using AI for social impact work
  • How to leverage AI to accelerate social impact and effective philanthropy
  • How FSI’s Shared Data Project can enhance transparency and accountability in the social impact space

Post-Event Actions:

  • Identify responsible and effective ways to use AI and tech tools to advance social impact
  • Test and provide feedback on existing AI tools with the aim of advancing social impact
  • Get involved in cross-sector collaboration to enhance AI tools to accelerate social impact

Speakers

Prof. David Bishop

The University of Hong Kong

Associate Professor of Teaching

Prof. Bishop is an Associate Professor at The University of Hong Kong and the International MBA Program at Fudan University, Shanghai. He has won numerous awards for his teaching, including HKU’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Hong Kong’s highest teaching honor: the UGC Teaching Award. Prior to teaching, Prof. Bishop practiced law in both the United States and across Asia.

Prof. Bishop focuses significant time on activities and programs providing direct benefit to the community. He consults companies about their ethics, CSR, pro bono, and philanthropic initiatives, and is founder and director of multiple social impact organizations. He and his students are constantly looking for scalable solutions to complex societal problems.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

  1. I would like to see at least one large thoroughfare in Central closed to vehicular traffic and made exclusively into a pedestrian green space.
  2. I would like to see the solid waste levy codified into law.

Paras Kalura

Migrasia

Chief Operating Officer

Paras Kalura is the Chief Operating Officer of Migrasia, a Hong Kong-based think-and-do tank dedicated to eradicating forced labor and systemic exploitation within the global migration system. Recognized on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list for his contributions to social impact, Paras has been instrumental in scaling Migrasia’s operational and technological capabilities. Since joining the organization in 2022, he has overseen pioneering tech initiatives like PoBot—an AI-powered chatbot providing migrant workers with real-time, multilingual guidance on their legal rights and critical support services.

Under his strategic oversight, Migrasia has assisted over 42,000 workers, recovered more than $40 million USD in illegal fees, and repatriated over 350 individuals.

Paras holds a degree in engineering alongside a joint MBA from the University of Hong Kong and London Business School.

Pia Wong

Purpose Impact Action Ltd.

Founder and CEO

Pia is a seasoned social impact strategist with 25+ years of experience in cross-sector partnerships, stakeholder engagement, and impact measurement. Her career began in leadership roles at Weber Shandwick Shanghai and Synovate (Ipsos) APAC before shifting her focus to scaling social impact in Hong Kong in 2006.

Driven by a commitment to systemic change, Pia has spearheaded initiatives in literacy and education during her 12-year tenure as Executive Director of Bring Me A Book Hong Kong. As Co-Founder of Voice for Social Good, Pia is also a huge advocate of operational funding for nonprofits to strengthen sector resilience and deliver on impact – as their viral “Bake a Difference” campaign demonstrates.

In 2025, Pia led Hong Kong’s first ever impact measurement research. This groundbreaking initiative addressed critical gaps in nonprofit effectiveness while responding to the growing imperative for SMEs to demonstrate their social impact and sustainability commitments to remain competitive.

By transforming complex data into actionable insights, Pia empowers organizations to demonstrate and scale their social value with clarity and confidence.

Pia holds a BA (Hons) from University College London and a Business Sustainability Management Certificate from the University of Cambridge (2022).

My Sustainability Goals for 2026: 

Her 2026 sustainability goals are focused on advancing social impact measurement in Hong Kong through two strategic priorities;

1) Shifting mindsets: We advocate a long-term approach to sustainability by encouraging funders and investors to commit to multi-year grants or investments. This enables mission-driven organizations to generate robust, evidence-based outcomes over time. In parallel, nonprofits and social enterprises must confidently champion their impact measurement needs to secure the necessary resources and visibility.

2) Pooling Resources and Expertise: We seek to drive sector-wide collaboration by developing localized, shared impact measurement frameworks. Aligning on common outcomes and key indicators will enhance data comparability, reduce duplication, and streamline impact reporting — ultimately strengthening the ecosystem’s ability to demonstrate collective progress.

Supported by

14:00 – 15:30

Building Trust in the Transition: The Role of Green Professional Services

14:00 – 15:30

Sustainability has become a core part of business and economic decision-making, and professional services have an increasingly important role to play in supporting the transition. A broad ecosystem of green professional services, from engineering and accounting to consulting and assurance, helps organisations navigate evolving requirements, improve data quality, and build confidence in sustainability-related information.

This roundtable will explore how these services support businesses in managing transition risks, strengthening transparency, and aligning with international frameworks such as ISSB. It will also look at how better coordination across professional services can reduce information gaps, support more informed decision-making, and build capacity across the sustainability ecosystem.

Session Learnings:

  • Understand the role of green professional services in advancing the transition.
  • Explore how different services, including engineering, accounting, and assurance, contribute to credible and decision-useful sustainability information.
  • Identify how alignment with global standards can enhance trust, transparency, and cross-border collaboration.

Post-Event Actions:

  • Assess how their organisations can better leverage green professional services to support sustainability goals.
  • Strengthen internal coordination across functions engaging with sustainability-related services.
  • Identify opportunities to build capacity and partnerships within the green professional services ecosystem.

Speakers

Prof. Anthony Cheung

GHG Protocol

GHG Protocol Independent Standards Board Member

Anthony Cheung is Managing Director and Head of ESG at one of Asia’s largest multi-manager investment platforms, where he oversees ESG integration and sustainable investment strategies. With over 20 years of experience in asset management across Europe and Asia, he served at renowned institutions including Gartmore, Pictet, and BNP Paribas.

As the first Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA) in Asia, Anthony has served on the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) Supervisory Board, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Stakeholder Council, and the CFA Institute ESG Technical Committee. He contributes to climate governance as a board member of Friends of the Earth (HK) and the Hong Kong Institute of Directors.

Recognized by the 2019 Regional ESG Leader Award by Insights and Mandate, Anthony actively advocates for advancing science-based, implementable climate accounting and sustainability reporting frameworks in Asia. Anthony is a Fellow of CPA Australia and based in Hong Kong

Athena Ng

China Overseas Land & Investment Limited

General Manager, Corporate Finance & Corporate Communications Dept

Athena Ng is a Board Member of Friends of the Earth (HK), one of Hong Kong’s most prominent and long established green groups. She is the General Manager, Corporate Finance & Corporate Communications Departments of China Overseas Land & Investment Limited (688.HK), responsible for corporate finance, media, investor relations, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and other Board related matters.

Athena is a Chartered Secretary, CFA Charterholder, a Certified Public Accountant of Hong Kong and the State of Virginia. She is a Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) Credential holder and a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA®) of The European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies (EFFAS).

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

  1. Re-launch the HK waste charging scheme to encourage re-use
  2. More awareness of the climate action plan 2050

Supported by

16:00 – 17:30

Integrated Transition Plan: Value from Connecting Climate, Nature & People

16:00 – 17:30

As organizations accelerate transition efforts, climate, nature, and social priorities are still often managed through separate strategies and workstreams. Yet these dimensions are increasingly interconnected—reshaping risk exposure, value creation, and long-term resilience.

Integrated Transition Planning (ITP), as outlined by WBCSD and ERM in the recent guidance, provides a structured approach to bring these elements together into a cohesive, decision-useful strategy embedded within core business processes and investment decisions.

This roundtable will convene senior leaders to explore how organizations are moving beyond siloed approaches to develop integrated, investment-ready transition strategies. The discussion will focus on managing trade-offs, aligning sustainability with commercial priorities, and embedding integration into governance, risk, and capital allocation—while sharing practical lessons from early adopters.

Session Learnings:

  • Approaches to align climate, nature, and social priorities with business strategy and capital allocation
  • How to identify and manage trade-offs and co-benefits across climate mitigation, adaptation, and just transition agendas
  • How integrated planning can enhance resilience, unlock efficiencies, and strengthen investor confidence

Post-Event Actions:

  • Assess their current approach and identify gaps in integrating climate, nature, and social priorities into core strategy
  • Identify and prioritize “no-regret” actions that deliver multi-dimensional outcomes across risk, value, and resilience
  • Engage internal stakeholders to advance actionable, credible transition plans aligned to evolving investor and regulatory expectations

Speakers

Summer Chen

ERM-Hong Kong Limited

Associate Partner, Corporate Sustainability & Climate Change.

Summer is an Associate Partner of the Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change (CSCC) Team with ERM based in Hong Kong. She leads the CSCC work across Greater China and currently serves as the APAC Technical Community Lead. Summer’s focus is on advising her Clients on their transition to a low carbon economy and working with their teams to ensure that a robust strategy is in place so they can meet their climate, nature and ESG goals.  Summer has significant experience in climate risk assessment projects in the Asia region and depth knowledge around power & renewables including emerging clean technologies such as hydrogen, EV.

Prior to Hong Kong, Summer has worked for the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office for over 5 years on climate change energy policy through the delivery of projects to support regional energy transition. She has previously lived and worked in Malaysia, Mainland China, Kenya and the UK, frequently collaborating with large multi-disciplinary teams throughout Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and APAC. She is passionate about promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment and was nominated as Champion for Women in Renewables Asia.

Yulia Dobrolyubova

ERM-Hong Kong Limited

Partner & Regional Service Leader, Corporate Sustainability & Climate Change

Yulia leads Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change services across Asia. She has 18 years’ experience in consulting and managing projects on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development, including over 15 years in Asia-Pacific (APAC). She has worked with various development organisations (World Bank/IFC, EBRD, ADB, United Nations agencies), impact investors and financial institutions, national and city governments, as well as companies in the Oil & Gas, energy, cement, steel, textile and apparel, automotive, chemical and pharmaceutical, consumer goods, and other sectors.

Yulia is one of the leads ERM experts in APAC for the design of environmental, social and governance (ESG) and climate strategies for various sectors and clients. She is also an author and reviewer of a number of studies and publications.

Dr. Robin Kennish

ERM-Hong Kong Limited

Business Unit Managing Partner, East Asia

Dr Robin Kennish is the Managing Partner for ERM’s East Asia business. He has over 20 years of experience in managing and directing environment and sustainability studies. These studies have ranged from securing permits through to strategic advice on climate change, biodiversity and health and safety. He is working with power companies, conglomerates and asset management firms on aligning their climate change disclosure with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosure requirements. Robin has recently worked with HKEX listed companies on their Nature strategy which has included looking as risks and opportunities, value chain impacts as well as preparation of TNFD aligned disclosure for ESG reports. Robin has a PhD in Marine Sciences and has conducted numerous Aquatic and Terrestrial Biodiversity assessments while at ERM throughout the Asia Pacific region. His Biodiversity and Nature experience has ranged from developing corporate level policies through to site level assessments and habitat creation plans.

Joe Phelan

World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)

Executive Director, Asia Pacific

Joe is Executive Director, Asia Pacific for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the global, CEO-led community of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working together to realize a net-zero, nature-positive, more equitable future.

Joe is responsible for the engagement of ambitious companies from across Asia and Australasia in the World Business Council. He has supported collective action projects by business with demonstrable outcomes in areas such as climate change, energy transition, water risk, mobility and more resilient agriculture.

Prior to joining WBCSD, Joe held senior roles with the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. Highlights included a series of special reports with the Financial Times on business and sustainable development, the development of the World Business & Development awards with the United Nations and International Chambers of Commerce, and delivery of programs in skills, inclusive business, and anti-corruption.

Born and educated in the UK, Joe has worked in Asia since 2009. He plays cricket and lives in Singapore with his wife, a writer, and their daughter.

With thanks to

Day 2 – Friday 11 Sept

10:00 – 11:30

The 3.6% Premium: Resilience and ROI Through Shared Intelligence and AI

10:00 – 11:30

Hong Kong enterprises are operating in an era of permanent volatility, where supply chain resilience has become a commercial necessity. Yet many still treat sustainability as a compliance burden rather than a source of value. Drawing on EcoVadis’ 2026 Barometer (1,000 multinationals and 2,000 suppliers), this session shows how proactive procurement teams earn a measurable 3.6% revenue-growth premium by shifting from an “assess and chase” model to one built on shared network intelligence, supporting real ROI through cost avoidance, revenue protection and supplier-enabled innovation. It also looks at the role of AI, applied to verified supplier data, in bringing clarity to these decisions rather than adding noise. Delegates will hear from three local EcoVadis customers on their practical experiences, before moving into interactive roundtable discussions to work through shared challenges with peers.

Speakers

Richard Bourne

EcoVadis

Senior Vice President Asia Pacific Japan

Richard Bourne is the Senior Vice President for Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) and a member of the Senior Leadership team at EcoVadis. Over his 16-year tenure, Richard has played a pivotal role in expanding the company’s sustainability network, significantly contributing to the growth of its global rated network, which now includes over 150,000 companies. His leadership has been instrumental in engaging both requesting and rated companies, promoting sustainable business practices across SMEs and large corporations alike. Richard’s expertise continues to shape the future of sustainability in the APJ region and beyond.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

  1. Fostering transparent collaboration between the public and private sectors.
  2. Making sustainability practical and accessible for small and medium-sized businesses.
  3. Moving from promises to progress.

With thanks to

All sessions are subject to change.