Sustainable Transformation Theatre (Keynote)

Chris has 19 years of experience working on large-scale business events. Originally from the UK, Chris has lived and worked in Hong Kong since 2015.

Chris moved to Hong Kong to establish a North Asia office for a London-based trade expo organiser and launch a series of digital transformation events. The challenges of living sustainably and a developing concern around the exponential threats of the global climate emergency compelled Chris to “rethink” his own personal contribution to Hong Kong and how he could best make a positive impact on a city he now proudly calls home.

Chris conceived, designed and launched the ReThink HK event during the first part of 2019 – undeterred by the challenges faced by live events at that time, due to civil unrest, the new event concept for uniting the full business and sustainability ecosystem, championing positive action and shared responsibility received excellent support. The inaugural 2020 event was, unsurprisingly, delayed due to Covid but finally ran, in-person, at the K11 Quarry Bay with 450 attendees and all delegate fees were donated to local charities.

Chris’ experience in hosting content-led expo-style healthcare events in the UK, where partnerships and collaboration were crucial to scale and success, provided the foundation for Chris to widen the supporting-network of organisations and sponsors for ReThink HK. The event was moved to the HKCEC for the 2021 edition and resulted in Hong Kong’s best attended event dedicated to the business of sustainability, with over 2,200 attendees. Chris is proud to have maintained the event’s impact pledge; with all delegate fees contributing to impact projects with local Hong Kong charities.

Working alongside the Business Environment Council, Consulates and trade promotion offices, Chambers of Commerce, specialist industry associations, NGOs and action groups the collective ambition for ReThink HK is to accelerate change in Hong Kong – the event returns for its third edition this October at the HKCEC, will host over 3,000 attendees and aims to be at least carbon neutral.

Chris received a Bachelor’s degree in International Business and Italian from the University of Plymouth (UK). Chris is a member of the British Chamber of Commerce’s Social Sustainability Committee, sits on the Executive Committee and the Sustainability sub-committee of the Hong Kong Exhibition & Convention Industry Association.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

• Greater action from businesses to contribute towards to a more sustainable HK
• Encourage other event organisers to commit to sustainable solutions
• Demonstrate that businesses be operated profitably and with purpose

Kevin O’Brien is the Chief Executive of Gammon Construction. He has over 30 years’ extensive management experience in the construction and engineering industry covering both the private and public sectors.  He is a fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors. He is the Chairman of the Business Environment Council.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Less talk, more action. Business leaders making the right choices for the future.

Mr Tse joined the former Environmental Protection Agency in 1985 which was subsequently reorganised in 1986 to become the current Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Throughout the service with EPD, Mr Tse had taken up a wide range of duties at professional and senior managerial levels. He was appointed as a Deputy Director of Environmental Protection in 2013 and subsequently as the Under Secretary for the Environment in August 2017.

Mr Tse possesses a broad spectrum of experience in various areas of environmental protection, including law enforcement, computer modelling, environmental impact assessment and cross-boundary cooperation with the Mainland.  During his tenure as the Under Secretary for the Environment, he helped spearhead the formulation of policies on air quality, waste management, climate actions and conservation.

Jonathan graduated with an MA in Economics from Cambridge University in England and is also qualified as a Chartered Accountant.  Jonathan started his banking career more than 30 years ago in London and has worked in a diverse range of markets including Latin America and the Middle East has been based in Hong Kong since 1997 witnessing first-hand the rapid growth of Asia.  During this time, he has been involved successful advisory and financing transactions across a wide range of industrial and services sectors including energy, manufacturing, transportation, infrastructure and financial services, with a focus on resource efficiency and sustainability. These transactions have involved supporting projects, corporates and institutions to approach various financial markets and structuring innovative and tailored solutions to meet the often large and always specific needs of clients. Over the last 8 years Jonathan has led HSBC’s efforts in Sustainable Finance in Asia, assisting clients in the development of sustainability and transition strategies and communicating these to ensure best access to financial markets.  Jonathan has also been active in broader market development including driving awareness and engagement on the urgency of the need to transition and the development of robust financial products to support the implementation of the transition to a sustainable and resilient future.  Jonathan is a member of the Executive Committee of the Hong Kong Green Finance Association and is also the founding chair of the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association Green and Sustainable Loan Committee.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Delivering capital solutions to enable clients to transition and grow their business to be resilient and create real value for their stakeholders.

Richard Lancaster joined CLP in 1992 and in 2013 became CEO of the company, one of the largest investor-owned power businesses in Asia Pacific. He has more than 35 years of experience in the power industry and other industrial operations in Australia, UK and Hong Kong. Richard is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Business Environment Council.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

I look forward to a net-zero future with increasing clean electrification and close collaboration between different sectors to make it a reality.

Dr Kennish has worked with ERMs Clients in the Asia Pacific region for the last 25 years on managing their sustainability risks and opportunities. His focus is on helping Clients with their transition to a low carbon economy and working with their teams to ensure that a robust ESG strategy is in place. This has included advisory services around climate disclosures such as: CDP and TCFD, GHG assessments, net-zero transition plans, SBTi submissions, as well as approvals for renewable energy projects (ie offshore wind and solar).

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

I am committed to working alongside my ERM team and our Clients in Hong Kong to get us on a path to a net-zero world.

Wilfred Luk heads ESG Integration at AIA, where he is passionate in embedding sustainability in every fibre of the organization, engaging with key functions and all 18 markets in Asia. He hails from a risk background with more than ten years of experience in the life insurance industry.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

With greater awareness and investment, I wish for Hong Kong to become a centre for green and transitional finance in hopes for more sustainable outcomes for our future generations.

Dedy is the SBT Engagement Manager for Southeast Asia and Oceania at CDP based in Jakarta, Indonesia. He focuses on the development of the regional corporate engagement and strategic collaboration to bring more uptakes in the region. Dedy earned a M.Sc of Environment and Energy Engineering from Kyungpook National University.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

I would like to see more uptakes of the Hong Kong companies in joining the SBTi and set their corporate climate ambition to be in-line with the climate latest science.

Dr Raymond Yau is General Manager of Technical Services & Sustainable Development at Swire Properties (SPROPS). Raymond is currently Director & Vice-Chairman of Sustainable Development Committee, Hong Kong Green Building Council. Raymond also serves as member of Advisory Council on the Environment, Board of Director of Business Environment Council, and founding member of IWBI Governance Council.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Lead Swire Properties’ implementation strategies of carbon and energy reduction based on our 1.5°C aligned Science-based Targets, paving way to achieve net zero by 2050.

Dr Bruce Chong is the Climate & Urban Sustainability Leader for Arup in the East Asia region. He works with clients to formulate strategies and implementation plans for climate resilience, carbon neutrality, smart city resource efficiencies and green infrastructure for city government and corporates in Hong Kong, greater China and East Asia.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Zero Carbon – not only carbon neutrality & Resilient at all levels – from city, infrastructure, energy, water, food, transport, to individuals.

Giuliana Auinger is the Partner & Vice President of the Sustainability Business at Schneider Electric. She is responsible for managing the region’s Energy & Sustainability Services and Sustainability Consulting organization, with the mission to help large enterprises deliver climate mitigation actions and reduce carbon emissions using technological solutions.

Prior to joining Schneider Electric, Giuliana was a strategy consulting Partner at KPMG, practice leader at Axiom and management consultant at Diamond Management & Technology Consultants and Booz & Company.

Giuliana has an MBA from the University of Hong Kong and a BSc in Mathematics and Economics from the University of Bristol.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

A complete transformation to being a truly Sustainable city – accelerated transition to renewable energy, wholly circular economies, advanced conservation of energy and resources, pioneering approach to investment and economic policies….to name a few.

Currently the Programme Director for the Master of Social Science in Sustainability Leadership and Governance, in the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong. Margaret has developed learning modules for students as well as organisations to raise awareness of sustainability issues and their relevance by helping both students and clients integrate sustainability into personal and core organizational decision-making processes. She is often a guest speaker, and partners with organizations to provide support to their in-house Sustainable Development initiatives, currently with an emphasis on climate change related factors.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

For leaders to put into action meaningful changes to their operations given that everyone can drive significant improvements through the cumulative effect of us all playing our part. As much as we all want nice stuff, it’s not much point if we don’t have a planet to put it on!

Matthew Day is Head of Zurich Resilience Solutions for Asia. Matthew leads a team of 30+ Risk Management professionals across the Asia Region. Matthew’s team has expertise in a wide range of risks from fire, construction, natural hazards, climate change plus many more. Matthew also comes from a risk engineering background.

Dr Zadek is Executive Director of NatureFinance, Director of Migrant Nation, Senior Advisor to the Task Force on Nature Related Financial Disclosure, and co-lead of the Taskforce on Nature Markets. He was Head, Secretariat, UN Secretary General’s Task Force on Digital Financing of the Sustainable Development Goals, Senior Advisor on Finance in the office of the UN Secretary General, and Co-Director of UNEP’s Finance Inquiry. He co-Chaired China’s Green Finance Task Force, and led the Green Finance Study Group secretariat under the Chinese, German and Argentinian G20 Presidencies.

Prior to this, he was Senior Advisor to the World Economic Forum and the Global Green Growth Institute, founder and CEO of the international think tank, AccountAbility and Development Director of the New Economics Foundation. He was Visiting Professor at the Singapore Management University and the Copenhagen Business School, and has been a senior fellow at Tsinghua School of Economics and Management, Harvard`s Kennedy School of Government, and the University of Southern Africa.

He has worked with many corporations, governments and multi stakeholder initiatives on their sustainability and broader strategies, been a member of the International Advisory Board of Generation Investment Management, and has published extensively, including the award-winning book, The Civil Corporation.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

To increase the materiality of biodiversity in financial decision-making, and so better align global finance with nature conservation and restoration

Lulu Zhou has has more than 15 years of professional experience in international NGO management and strategic development, and she is currently leading the philanthropy and conservation programs in Hong Kong with The Nature Conservancy. Her responsibility focuses on both building the conservation vision and on-the-ground work locally, and strengthening the supporter base in Hong Kong that ensures TNC’s financial sustainability throughout the Asia Pacific region.

Mariam Ashroff is a sustainability professional with 11 years of financial services experience. At LGT, she combines her financial services experience with her expertise in environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues to embed sustainability concepts throughout the organization. Prior to this, Mariam was a consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where she advised asset and wealth managers on ESG integration.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

My goals are to raise awareness on sustainable investing; beak down the complexity of the climate crisis and empower people with knowledge needed to act as a change agent; and continuously improve on my own sustainable lifestyle.

Venisa leads L’Occitane Group’s sustainability transformation in Asia Pacific focusing on its 3 priorities of climate, biodiversity and diversity and inclusion. She is responsible for crafting APAC’s strategy to align with the Group’s ambition to be B Corp certified by 2023. With over 15 years of experience in sustainability, real estate, and technology sectors, her expertise lies in stakeholder engagement, business operations and strategy, and risk mitigation in North America and Asia.

Venisa holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Electrical Engineering) from the University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Bring more attention to biodiversity by highlighting its relationship with climate change. She would like to see systemic change in rewarding those who contribute to HK’s net zero plan both at the personal and commercial levels.

Teresa Hartmann is the Director of Market Formation at IETA, focusing on integrity in carbon markets. Previously, Teresa worked at the World Economic Forum as the was the Lead for Climate and Nature, developing initiatives on net zero, industry decarbonization and natural climate solutions. Prior to joining the Forum, Teresa worked on sustainable finance and the SDGs at UNEP, the UN Secretariat and GIZ.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

A big uptick on climate and nature action

Yoann Regent is Head of Sustainable Sourcing and Nature Initiatives within Kering’s sustainable development programs team.

Yoann works closely with Kering Houses to build supply chains for raw materials (leather, precious skins, fibres, etc.) that meet the highest standards in terms of biodiversity conservation and respect for animal welfare, by setting up innovative projects, supporting the group’s suppliers or in-house training for operational teams. With two experts in his team, Yoann is also in charge of engagement with stakeholders from the scientific community, NGOs or corporate coalitions.

In his previous experiences, Yoann worked for 5 years in the sustainable development department of the IKEA Group, in Sweden and in France, specifically on sustainable supply, renewable energies and circular economy as well as previously in the sectors of energy at Vestas (No. 1 in wind power) and consulting at EPEA (founder of the Cradle-to-cradle concept). Yoann graduated in Industrial Ecology from the Royal Polytechnic School (KTH) in Stockholm.

Yi Du joined Pictet Asset Management in 2018. He is an Investment Manager in the Thematic Equities Team.

Before joining Pictet, Yi worked in the Global Equity Research team of J.P. Morgan in Hong Kong covering utilities and environmental sectors in Asia. Prior to that, he worked in the Investment Banking team at Barclays in Hong Kong.

Yi holds an MSc in Financial Economics with distinction from the University of Oxford. Yi is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

We hope to work hand in hand with our distributors to strengthen investor education in the market.

Charles Goddard imagines and builds The Economist Group’s flagship initiatives. He works closely with partners on themes ranging from ageing and longevity to climate change, global health security and the sustainable ocean economy. Based in Hong Kong, Charles was previously editorial director, Asia, at the Economist Intelligence Unit and managing director of the Economist Corporate Network, a peer network for senior executives. He is executive director of the Group’s World Ocean Initiative.

Roberto Giannetta, Chairman of the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association, has 30+ years of service in the shipping industry. HKLSA represents the interests of container liner principals on numerous industry and government organizations, covering operational, safety, environmental, regulatory, trade, and policy matters vis-à-vis government and industry stakeholders.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Despite liner shipping already providing the most environmentally efficient means of global transportation, HKLSA is committed to guarding against illegal wildlife trade, improving sea and air quality, zero carbon emissions, and protection of human life.

Chad is the Forensic Leader for Hong Kong. He brings over 25 years of dedicated experience in the forensic industry. He is an Australia & NZ Chartered Accountant and has spent his career working in Australia, Singapore Beijing and Hong Kong.

He manages a dedicated team of over 40 forensic professionals in Hong Kong and is part of KPMG’s broader Greater China team.

He has held leadership roles with Tier One Financial Institutions and led high profile assignments related to Deferred Prosecution Agreements, Consent Orders, Audit Committee and Regulatory Enquiries.

Chad’s work has allowed him to oversee assignments with senior stakeholders from all around Asia and the Globe. He is an outgoing advocate of transformation and works with academics, think tanks, private public partnerships and other platforms of higher learning.

At Cathay, Karen is responsible for the development and execution of sustainability programmes, management and communications to help the Group move towards its net-zero carbon and more sustainable operation. Prior to this, Karen worked as a project manager in an ESG advisory, where she led research, reporting and stakeholder engagement projects for corporate and non-profit clients.

Justin is responsible for developing UBS Optimus Foundation’s Social Finance programs in APAC. He works on outcomes-based financing projects and investments into social enterprises with a focus on climate and nature-based solutions.

Prior to Optimus, Justin worked for Prudence Foundation for six years and before this, five years with Prudential in London and Hong Kong in Finance, Strategy and M&A roles. He started his working life with EY Australia and is a qualified Chartered Accountant.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

For Hong Kong to be the city of excellence when it comes to building effective partnerships to deploy the urgently needed capital to support organisations addressing crucial social and environmental issues.

Dr. David Gallacher is an environmental specialist with over 23 years experience. He has an academic background in ecology and environmental management, and has experience in a wide range of project types including environmental planning, impact assessment and monitoring, biodiversity management and habitat creation, sustainable urban design and Nature-based Solutions.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Better integration of ESG principles, especially relating to ecosystem services, into all aspects of Hong Kong life.

Brian is responsible for sustainability strategy, support, and related engagements across Manulife Investment Management’s private markets business. In his role, he directs global sustainability programs for the firm’s timberland, agriculture, real estate, infrastructure, and private equity and credit asset classes.