Session Title: Building Trust in the Transition: The Role of Green Professional Services
Date & Time: 10 September 2026, 14:00 – 15:30
Participants: 70
Session Overview
At a time when ESG headlines often focus on backlash and doubt, this roundtable on Day 1 of
ReThink HK 2026 brought together practitioners from accounting, law, consulting and banking to
examine how green professional services can build trust in Hong Kong’s green transition. Through
professional sharings, a fireside chat and an open floor discussion, speakers explored how each
profession contributes to a credible transition, and why the transition needs several professions
working together rather than any one of them alone.
Session objectives
- To understand the role of accounting, legal, consulting and banking professionals in supporting the green transition
- To share real-world case studies and benchmark Hong Kong’s green professional services against international practice
- To identify the gaps that professions in Hong Kong need to fill to strengthen their offering
- To explore the skills professionals need to pivot or advance in green professional services
Key Discussion Points & Highlights
The host, Ms. Serena Mak (Friends of the Earth (HK)), guided a dynamic conversation with Mr. Andy
Law (Deloitte China), Ms. Karen Lam (Simmons & Simmons), Mr. Pedro Yip (Oliver Wyman) and Mr.
Dennis Ngai (DBS Hong Kong), covering:
Building Credibility: Reliable Data, Assurance and Legal Safeguards
- Speakers agreed that trust in a company’s transition starts with reliable, well-defined data and robust assurance. Mr. Law illustrated this with a real estate developer that worked across more than 10 departments to build a systematic approach to collecting carbon data before setting credible targets.
- The legal profession plays a complementary role in managing greenwashing risk, helping companies ensure that their green claims are substantiated and comply with requirements in the markets where their products are sold.
Market Infrastructure and Finance:: Channelling Capital into the Transition
- Ms. Lam shared her experience with Core Climate, the carbon credit trading platform of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), highlighting how Hong Kong, despite having little land for carbon projects, can act as a conduit channelling international capital into projects around the world.
- From a banking perspective, Mr. Ngai discussed how sustainable finance can help technologies and projects that have proven themselves move to commercial scale.
From Commitment to Execution: Sustaining Transition Momentum
- Speakers observed that momentum often fades after net-zero pledges are made. Mr. Yip highlighted the importance of sequencing initiatives in a commercially viable way, prioritising those with financial payback to fund the rest of the journey and securing early wins to build confidence across the organisation.
- Turning commitments into action also requires a shared understanding across business functions, as each function sees the costs and benefits of the transition differently.
Skills for Green Professional Services: Insights from the Fireside Chat and Open Floor
- Speakers stressed that curiosity and continuous learning are essential as standards and technologies evolve every few years, alongside a strong technical foundation that can be applied to new areas and the ability to translate sustainability into business terms. Ms. Mak also highlighted the value of cross-disciplinary collaboration in delivering practical sustainability solutions.
- Questions from the floor covered how Hong Kong companies with operations in the region can respond to new European regulations such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), and the opportunities created by increasingly affordable green solutions from mainland China
Key Outcomes & Learnings
- Trust Requires an Ecosystem of Professions: Accountants, lawyers, consultants and bankers each supply a different part of a credible transition, from reliable data and legal frameworks to execution and financing.
- Data and Assurance as the Foundation of Credibility: Reliable data and robust assurance underpin credible targets, disclosures and transition plans, particularly as Hong Kong moves towards ISSB-aligned reporting.
- Hong Kong as a Conduit for Capital: Hong Kong’s strength in market infrastructure positions it to channel international capital into transition projects.
- Continuous Learning as a Core Skill: Professionals seeking to pivot or advance in green professional services need curiosity, solid technical foundations and the ability to translate sustainability into business value.
Post-Event Actions
- Foster closer collaboration across professions and industries in future events, bringing accountants, lawyers, consultants, bankers and corporates together to develop practical solutions for a credible transition.
- Continue the dialogue on topics raised from the floor, such as evolving international regulations, which may be explored in future sessions.
- Support continued professional upskilling to strengthen Hong Kong’s green professiona services ecosystem.