Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre (Keynote)
Opening Welcome: Hong Kong and Beyond: A Shared Vision for Our Planet
Day 2 : 14:00 – 14:05
Speakers
Eric Stryson
Managing Director
Eric Stryson
Managing Director
Eric leads GIFT’s sustainability advisory business, manages private and public sector clients, and facilitates GIFT’s leadership development programmes. He has worked with thousands of executives from all regions in areas of governance, business, and sustainability. He writes and speaks on topics related to societal resilience, technology, and the shifting role of business in society.
My Sustainability Goals for 2023:
Enabling a broad recognition of the need to redesign society in the face of existential threats. Supporting business leaders and their teams to rethink their approach to business models, core products and services to align with greater societal resilience and overall improved quality of life.
Supported by
Global Institute for Tomorrow
GIFT is an independent pan-Asian think tank dedicated to advancing a deeper understanding of today’s most critical drivers of change – from the emergence of a post-Western world to the reshaping of global capitalism and the dynamic relationship between business, society, and the state. Our practical insights, internationally acclaimed leadership learning curriculum, and outcome-driven facilitation help our clients navigate the seismic shifts shaping our future, particularly in key areas of sustainable development, social and environmental impact, sustainability, and policymaking.
Our sustainability goals for 2023:
Committed to solving growing existential threats and societal challenges, we aim to:
Move ESG beyond reporting, and reframe narratives to enable real and sustained transformation in ESG by working with clients to distil ESG in every aspect of business, from products and services to employees and the supply chain.
Support companies in rethinking their core business models to embrace the true ethos of “sustainability”, elevating sustainability conversations beyond environmental management & short-term business goals and towards long-term societal sustainability.
Scale up the accessibility of sustainability education and facilitate disruptive learning that empowers individuals and organisations with insights to redesign society through our new EdTech platform, GIFT.ed.
Our initiative in accelerating sustainable development in Hong Kong:
GIFT’s annual Hong Kong Young Leaders Programme (HKYLP) is a public consultation platform that convenes young professionals from the Business, Government and Civil society sectors to address Hong Kong’s pertinent complex societal challenges. Through the programme, participants meet with stakeholders and experts to gain cross-sector insights to develop innovative policy solutions for the betterment of Hong Kong. Since its inaugural programme in 2015, we have developed many policy recommendations and best practices for sustainable development, such as our 2022 programme on the Northern Metropolis Development Strategy, where participants were able to develop policy recommendations to enable the Northern Metropolis to become a liveable and resilient city while meeting Hong Kong’s long term policy objectives such as its 2050 decarbonisation goals.
For our upcoming 2023 HKYLP programme, we will be examining how promoting well-being may be key to reversing brain drain in Hong Kong. Driven by events in recent years, Hong Kong people have become increasingly dissatisfied by their inability to find fulfilment, security and empowerment in Hong Kong, all of which are key indicators for well-being. As such, key groups, particularly youth, have decided to relocate to competitor cities in search of better career prospects and outlooks for their children’s future – leading to the aforementioned brain drain. The HKYLP engages participants to define well-being in Hong Kong’s context and develop a Well-being Strategy that engages actors across public, private, and civil society sectors to create a conducive environment for youth to thrive in Hong Kong. Importantly, the cohort will be invited to engage with the concept of ‘well-being’ beyond ‘mental health’. Instead, the cohort will analyse well-being on a ‘what matters most’ approach, primarily understood as the notion of one’s life satisfaction, happiness, and the ability for one to ‘function well’.