Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre (Keynote)

Advancing Operations and Accounting for Biodiversity in Business

Day 1 : 16:40 – 17:30

Full Programme
Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre (Keynote)

When Hong Kong businesses are still grappling with their carbon management agendas, how can they also develop a meaningful biodiversity agenda and create transparency in an area that was until now largely the domain of scientists? Fuller engagement will result in a rising demand for consistent and robust tools to advance the uptake of biodiversity in financial and operational decision making. What are some real-world applications of such metrics and tools in mainstreaming biodiversity in business decisions? What have we learned from business engagement on carbon in terms of priority setting, tools and partnerships that we can apply to our biodiversity approach? Hear from leading practitioners and tools providers how the biodiversity agenda can be advanced in more manageable ways.

Learnings

  • How can working with biodiversity and climate agendas, and with the frameworks offered by TNFD and TNCD (the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures), be better integrated?
  • How can businesses work with supply chain partners, competitors, academia, government bodies, local communities and other stakeholders in all stages of biodiversity risk and opportunity assessment, strategy design and implementation?
  • As financial institutions turn their attention towards natural capital and its influences and dependencies on investment activities, how can they capitalize on their unique role and guide companies towards becoming nature positive?

Post-Event Actions

  • Recognise that the sustainability transition of businesses is multi-faceted, requires addressing both biodiversity and climate change, and must result in mainstreaming biodiversity considerations in all levels of business operations and investments.

Speakers

Debra Tan

CWR

Director & Head

Tan heads CWR, a non-profit that aims to “mainstream” water & climate risks into financial decision-making & corporate strategies. She built CWR from an idea into a ‘go-to’ resource in the global climate water risk conversation. Today, CWR’s decade+ of work on assessing & valuing risk exposure to rising water scarcity & coastal threats is highlighted in TCFD’s Knowledge Hub, technical guides for disclosure (IFRS/CDSB, SBTN, CDP) and various textbooks on water risk modeling. Her research & reports unpacking water risks with financial institutions & government-related organisations in China are considered groundbreaking and instrumental in understanding not just China’s but future global water challenges. CWR was part of China’s Environmental Risk Analysis Task Force as well as a founding member of Hong Kong’s Green Finance Association. Tan’s work is widely cited from the IPCC and IGOs to the financial sector and mainstream media. As a recognized authority in the water & climate space, Tan is published by SpringerNature, Palgrave MacMillan, G20 & UN editions, China policy journals and was a contributing author to the latest IPCC report “Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability”. She also sat on various advisory committees for MNCs & IGOs including CDP, CDSB (now IFRS) as well as judging panels for ACI and UNPRI awards. Before water, Tan spent over a decade in finance. She spends her spare time exploring Himalayan glaciers.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

Realistic recognition of accelerating climate risks
HK as the regional leader in coastal adaptation
HK as the regional thought leader in financing resilience

Speaking at:

Day 1

Advances in Climate Science: Fine-Scale Projection for Managing Extreme Risks in Asia’s Cities

Sam Fleming

Co-Founder

Sam Fleming is a co-founder of Earth Blox, which helps organisations accelerate their sustainability transition with climate and nature analytics. Earth Blox gives users satellite image insights at scale to measure and report impacts on nature and climate risk. Map and analyse key metrics for biodiversity, water and carbon across forestry, agriculture, and financed and insured assets, worldwide.

Lisa Genasci

Managing Director, Sustainable Finance

Lisa is a Managing Director and the Chair of ADM Capital’s ESG Committee. She is responsible for leading the firm wide ESG integration strategy and the Asia Climate Landscape Fund (ACLF) at ADM Capital. Prior to joining ADM Capital in 2021, Lisa established the ADM Capital Foundation (ADMCF) in 2006 as an innovative philanthropic vehicle to support critical research and impact-driven approaches to promoting environmental conservation in Asia. ADMCF has been widely recognised for its work on solutions to some of the world’s most intransigent challenges: depleting oceans, the nexus between forestry and development, air quality and public health, and the intersections between food, energy and water. During her time at ADMCF, she also provided advisory services to ADM Capital funds and supported the ESG integration investment processes. Lisa holds a BA degree with High Honors from Smith College and an LLM in Human Rights Law from the University of Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

To push for change across some of our most intransigent environmental challenges: Our depleting oceans, the nexus between forestry and development, air quality and public health, the intersections among food, energy and water.

Crystal Geng

BNP Paribas

Asian ESG Research Head/ Co-Chair for HKGFA TNFD Workstream

Crystal joined BNPPAM’s Sustainability Centre in the beginning of 2023 focusing on ESG integration across all asset classes in Asia. As the dedicated research lead for the Asian region, she drives the research, development and implementation of ESG research which supports ESG integration in the region – including with our Asian joint venture business partners – aligned with BNPP AM’s Global Sustainability Strategy. Crystal is also responsible for supporting sustainability engagement activities with companies in the region.
She has 10 years of diverse sustainability experience. She was the Principle ESG expert and Head of ESG Strategy at Ping An Insurance Group (2018-2022). Crystal was also previously ESG consultant at Ernst & Young and the Head of China ESG solutions at S&P Global. She has participated in the establishment of several ESG regulations in China and overseas.
Crystal holds MBA in Finance from Cornell University and Tsinghua University, Msc in Building Performance and Sustainability from the National University of Singapore, and is an accredited professional with LEED and WELL.

Speaking at:

Day 2

Integrating Nature Valuation and Monitoring: Lessons from TNFD and Beyond

Fitri Hasibuan

Program Senior Director

Fitri Hasibuan has over 18 years of experience in environmental work. Before joining Konservasi Indonesia, she has managed various projects in Conservation International since 2013 following the completion of her Master’s study in environmental management at the University of Queensland, Australia. While in Conservation International, she had experience in managing Sustainable Landscape Partnerships (SLP) with a USD 20 million portfolio for a five-year period as well as the Conservation Stewardship Global initiative. She also managed program portfolio in Asia Pacific countries, including India, Fiji, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Previously, Fitri worked in several NGOs and humanitarian organizations focusing on sustainable agriculture, community development, and climate change projects.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Finance to climate actions for developing nations in Asia increased by 20%

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