Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre (Keynote)
Fireside Chat: Unlocking the Finance and Transformative Potential of Multi-stakeholder Partnerships
Day 2 : 09:55 – 10:40
This fireside chat will address how different stakeholders can work together to mobilise finance for sustainable development. The struggle to get appropriate investment is one of the largest challenges for a company’s sustainable development goals.
Learnings
- What are the key challenges associated with fundraising for corporates’ sustainable development initiatives?
- How can companies develop strategies to form multi-stakeholder partnerships and how should they set the objectives.
Post-event Actions
- Understand further on sustainable financing, identify interests for different partners, and foster new partnerships to tap in such financing opportunities for corporates’ net-zero transition journey.
Speakers
Moderator
Simon Ng
Chief Executive Officer
Business Environment Council
Simon Ng
Business Environment Council
Chief Executive Officer
Mr Simon Ng is Chief Executive Officer of Business Environment Council (BEC). He works closely with BEC Board of Directors in setting and implementing organisation goals and strategies conducive to supporting BEC members and the wider business community in the transition towards net-zero economy and a sustainable Hong Kong.
My Sustainability Goals for 2025:
Mobilise corporates in Hong Kong for accelerated climate action.
Yulanda Chung
Managing Director, Head of Sustainability, Institutional Banking Group Singapore
Yulanda Chung
Managing Director, Head of Sustainability, Institutional Banking Group Singapore
Yulanda Chung joined DBS in 2017 and is currently Head of Sustainability of Institutional Banking Group. She leads the Bank’s responsible financing framework, advises on environmental and social issues pertaining to transactions, combining risk management expertise with business origination capabilities.
Yulanda was previously Group Head of Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered in London, where she established the bank’s sustainable lending and impact investment agenda.
She is a trustee at think tank TransitionZero, which provides financial analytics in the power and heavy industries to support decarbonisation and is a founding partner of the Al Gore-backed coalition Climate TRACE. She was formerly a board member at ASrIA, during her tenure the organisation was integrated into the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment.
She graduated with a Master of Science in Environmental Change and Management from Oxford University.
Joe Phelan
Executive Director, Asia Pacific
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)
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.
Supported by
Business Environment Council
Booth E10
Business Environment Council Limited (BEC) is an independent, charitable corporate membership organisation, established by the business sector in Hong Kong.
Since its establishment in 1992, BEC has been at the forefront of promoting environmental excellence by advocating the uptake of clean technologies and practices which reduce waste, conserve resources, prevent pollution and improve corporate environmental and social responsibility.
BEC offers sustainable solutions and professional services covering advisory, research, assessment, training and award programmes for government, business and the community, thus enabling environmental protection and contributing to the transition to a net-zero carbon economy.
Meet our speakers:
Cody Leong
Senior Officer – Policy & Research
Business Environment Council
Suki Han
Assistant Manager – Policy & Research
Business Environment Council
Clement Cheung
Assistant Manager – Policy & Research
Business Environment Council
Kevin O’Brien
Chairman
Business Environment Council
Merlin Lao
Head – Policy and Research
Business Environment Council
Simon Ng
Chief Executive Officer
Business Environment Council
With thanks to
DBS Bank (Hong Kong)
co-Headline Sponsor for the Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre
DBS is a leading financial services group in Asia with a presence in 19 markets. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, DBS is in the three key Asian axes of growth: Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The bank’s “AA-” and “Aa1” credit ratings are among the highest in the world. As a purpose-driven bank, we have been thoughtful around our own sustainability agenda. To pull all these into place, we architected our broader sustainability agenda around three pillars – responsible banking, responsible business practices and impact beyond banking.
To encourage more companies from key industries to transition to a low-carbon economy, we are the first commercial bank to publish a Sustainable and Transition Finance Framework and Taxonomy, which serves as a reference to guide clients to adapt and build resilience in the face of climate change, resource scarcity and address critical global issues such as income inequality. We are also the first bank in Singapore to sign up to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), and the first in Southeast Asia to publish a concrete and comprehensive set of targets for our Scope 3 financed emissions. These targets will guide us on strategically channeling financing away from high-emitting activities towards low-carbon alternatives.
DBS’s sustainability goals for 2023:
- Scaling positive ESG impact through raising our sustainable finance target to SGD50 billion by 2024
- Aligning lending and investment portfolios with net zero emissions by 2050
- Creating infrastructure to enable and empower businesses to achieve their climate impact goals, e.g. Climate Impact X – a carbon exchange and marketplace for high-quality carbon credits.
UN SDG goals that we align with:
- SDG 5 Gender Equality
- SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
- SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 13 Climate Action
