Sustainable Supply Chains: Do We Do Enough for Climate Change? – A Lively Firechat

My career combines commercial with sustainability policies. I worked for the ILO in Nigeria; the Dutch MFA and for the EU on nuclear fusion, humanitarian aid and health policies. Recent postings include Indonesia and the Philippines, where I served as head of the trade section of the EU Delegation, following which I was responsible for leveraging EU’s trade (preferences) for improving labour, human rights and environmental standards. In January 2021, I was appointed head of the trade section of the EU office to Hong Kong and Macao.

My Sustainability Goals for 2022:

Awareness, ambition, cooperation

BA Joint Honours [East Asian Studies and Political Science], McGill University, 1990, Nanjing Normal University, 1992. Rachael Bedlington began her assignment as Consul General of Canada in Hong Kong and Macao in 2021, her fifth assignment with the Government of Canada in China. Previous China assignments included Minister (Commercial) at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and Consul General in Guangzhou from 2015 to 2019. She has also served as Political Counsellor in Kuala Lumpur and as Chargé d’Affaires in Colombo. At Global Affairs headquarters in Ottawa, she has worked in divisions responsible for negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, for bilateral relations with India and Southeast Asia, for Human Rights Policy and Indigenous Affairs, and served as head of Canada’s Sudan and South Sudan Task Force, representing Canada at the Darfur Peace Agreement Implementation Follow-Up Commission and serving as Chair of the International Contact Group on Sudan and South Sudan.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

On a personal level, stop consuming single-use plastics.

On a professional level, continue efforts to connect Canadian firms with innovative technological solutions to new international partners for broader sustainability impact.

On a community level, engage in and encourage group activities that help support a greener future, to combat climate change and biodiversity loss.

Ambassador Thomas Gnocchi started his assignment as Head of the EU Office to Hong Kong and Macao on 1st September 2020. Prior to that, he was Deputy Head of Division for Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific and Deputy Head of Division for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the European External Action Service in Brussels. He served as Deputy Head of Office and Head of the Political, Economic and European Integration Section at the EU Office in Kosovo between 2012 and 2017 and as Head of the Political and Information Section at the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia between 2008 and 2012. Between 2003 and 2008, he worked at the European Commission in Brussels as desk officer for a number of Asian countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam. From 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2003 he was posted in Beijing, P.R. China and between 1996 and 2000 he served in the Delegation of the European Commission to Vietnam. Ambassador Gnocchi was educated at the London School of Economics, Yale University and Tianjin University, P.R. China. His native languages are Italian and English and he also speaks French, Chinese and some Serbian.

Patrick Healy is Chairman of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited and Swire Coca-Cola Limited. He is also a Director of John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Limited, an Executive Director of Swire Pacific Limited and a Non-Executive Director of Air China Limited.

Mr Healy has been with the Swire Group for more than 30 years. He joined John Swire & Sons in 1988 as a management trainee. After six years with the Group’s Industries Division in Hong Kong and Germany, he transferred to the Beverages Division in 1994, where he worked in various roles across the Group’s Mainland China Coca-Cola bottling operations in Beijing, Nanjing, Xian and Xiamen until 2012. He was General Manager of the Shaanxi bottler from 2001-2005 and General Manager of the Fujian bottler from 2005-2008. In July 2008 he was appointed CEO, HAECO Xiamen. Mr Healy returned to Hong Kong in 2012 to take up the role of Managing Director, Swire Coca-Cola. He became Chairman of Swire Coca-Cola and Cathay Pacific on 1^st October and 6^th November 2019 respectively.

Mr Healy is a Member of the Task Force on External Relations chaired by The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development.  In addition, Mr Healy is an Advisory Board Member of the Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) and a Member of the Employers’ Federation of Hong Kong General Committee.

Mr Healy was born in 1965 and graduated in 1988 from St. John’s College, Cambridge University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Modern Languages. He is married with three children.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Driving the rollout of the group sustainability strategy SwireTHRIVE and associated targets.

Ms. Grace Hui is the founder and CEO of Net Zero Asia, a company focuses on carbon asset development and carbon finance innovation. From 2013 to 2022, Ms. Hui was a senior executive with Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX) during which she played a critical role in strengthening Hong Kong as a premier global equity fund raising market as well as a regional green finance center. Most notably, Ms. Hui designed and implemented a new listing regime for new economy companies; spearheaded regular reviews of ESG Reporting Guide for companies listed on HKEX; initiated a new business for HKEX in green and sustainable finance including carbon markets; founded HKEX’s Sustainable and Green Exchange (STAGE); co-led with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission on the assessment for carbon market opportunities in Hong Kong; published a “Practical Net-Zero Guide for Business” to help companies set a pathway to net zero; and commissioned and edited a bilingual book on “Green & Sustainable Finance: From vision to market practice” published by The Commercial Press (H.K.) Ltd. in 2021.

Christie is an Ecology and Biodiversity student at HKU and aspires to become a marine biologist. At the age of 21, Christie embarked on an international climate change expedition to Antarctica. Inspired by her prior experience in conservation, education and innovation, she is committed to creating tangible changes with an interdisciplinary approach. Christie co-founded 2041 Hong Kong with the aim to promote youth uptake in sustainability through solution-based projects and innovative education.

My sustainability goals for 2023:

To promote youth capacity building and to co-create impact-driven projects that address climate change mitigation and adaptation with peers, institutions and businesses.

I am a computing student studying at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. I am an avid enthusiast in emerging technologies, but also love engaging with people and understanding the world. I’m the President of PolyU Toastmasters Club, former Vice-Lead, Consultant, and Logistic officer of Google Developer Student Club, and an LC Officer of AISEC in PolyU.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

Awareness & Education especially in the technological industries

As a graduate in Chemical and Environmental Engineering with a minor in Business from HKUST, Cindy gained exposure to the sustainability field through her work experience in a Hong Kong environmental think tank. She joined Project Melo as a Class of 2022 Fellow in the Sustainability Team and studied the gap in sustainability values between senior executives and Gen Zs in Hong Kong.

Cindy currently works as a sustainability practitioner at Deloitte Hong Kong with a focus on providing sustainability risk advisory services and developing decarbonisation strategies. This October, she will be attending the One Young World Summit 2023 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, as a delegate for Deloitte Hong Kong. The Summit brings together young leaders from 190+ countries and 250+ organisations, working to accelerate social impact.

Frederik van Eijk, is CEO of Holland Circular Hotspot and co-chair of the EU Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform. He is also vice-chair of the Circular Biobased Delta and adjunct professor at the LUISS Business School.
He is one of the more senior EU experts in the field of Waste Management and Circular Economy and has been described as a “mover and a shaker’.
Previously he served as Director of strategy and PA at multinational SUEZ and board member at the Dutch Waste Management Association.

My Sustainability Goals for 2023:

That Hong Kong launches the ambition to be the leading metropole in Asia in a circular transition and sets out a roadmap with clear goals supported by businesses to get there.