Innovations & Technology Theatre
Unifying Visions: The Northern Metropolis, GBA and a Clean Energy Future
Day 1 : 11:20 – 12:10
China has pledged to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. What progress has been made so far? Hear from experts on the role of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) in spurring China’s energy transition, and how development of the Northern Metropolis can be aligned in areas of digitalisation and green finance to drive the development of clean energy innovation.
Learnings
- How can Hong Kong fast-track integration with the GBA, and align the city’s energy transition with national ambitions? In what ways is the Northern Metropolis an opportunity for integrated planning and transformative adaptation?
- How can Hong Kong’s innovation and technology sector serve challenges in the Northern Metropolis-GBA opportunity? What technologies are being developed? What are the barriers, and how can they be overcome?
Post-Event Actions
- Gain insights on the role of the Northern Metropolis as an innovation and technology corridor in developing a high-quality GBA, and the opportunities for businesses in the region.
- Rethink how your company and industry can contribute to the acceleration of our own and national green-energy transition via regional collaboration and innovation.
Speakers
Moderator
Lawrence Iu
Executive Director
Lawrence Iu
Executive Director
Lawrence Iu is Executive Director at Civic Exchange. As a professional environmental strategist, he has profound experience in crafting climate change models and impactful public policies. His current focuses are on policy action in Energy, Building Energy Efficiency and Mobility. He has successfully built a platform with public, corporate and government stakeholders to craft an inclusive transition plan with strong buy-in.
In his previous roles in a multinational corporation and a higher institution, Lawrence led environmental sustainability and occupational health & safety projects across Asia Pacific and coordinated emerging technology management, circular economy and green chemistry research.
My Sustainability Goals for 2023:
Despite these difficult times, we must remain forward looking and anticipate the time of recovery. Even more so, we are now in a favourable position to make fundamental policy decisions to rethink our economic model, making it fit for a low carbon missions world, and to set course for a better, sustainable, and more liveable future for Hong Kong.
Daniel Chan
Head of Greater Bay Area
Daniel Chan
Head of Greater Bay Area
Daniel Chan is Head of Greater Bay Area at HSBC. He spearheads HSBC’s strategic development in GBA, a key focus of the Bank’s Asia growth strategy. He leads the overall business strategy development and implementation in GBA, across all business lines and functions to capture opportunities brought by GBA’s economic growth and policy enhancement measures. He is an HSBC veteran with over 30 years’ experience, holding senior leadership positions in HK, Singapore, Mainland China in recent 15 years.
Xiaoqian Jiang
Project Manager/Associate
Xiaoqian Jiang
Project Manager/Associate
Xiaoqian JIANG is the Low Carbon Planning Project Manager, based in WRI China Office. She is one of the core team members of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol City Accounting Project to develop the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventories (GPC). In China, she mainly works on the area of subnational carbon emissions peak and carbon neutrality through projects such as capacity building and policy research. Her focused regions are the GBA and Sichuan province.
Stephen Lai
Senior Vice President, Director of Operations, Hong Kong
Stephen Lai
Senior Vice President, Director of Operations, Hong Kong
Stephen Lai is Senior Vice President and Director of Operations overseeing AECOM’s operations in Hong Kong. He has over 30 years of experience in delivering major multidisciplinary urban development and infrastructure projects for the HKSAR government as client, covering areas of investigation management, design, construction management and contract administration.
Stephen’s diverse portfolio of Hong Kong projects include Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link; various new town developments such as New Development Areas in Northern Metropolis, Kai Tak Development, Tseung Kwan O New Town Development; Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel, Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link and Lai Chi Kok Drainage Tunnel, among many others.
With his vast experience in project delivery and operations, Stephen is also heading the Asia Internal ESG initiative of AECOM and leading the business development in GBA by leveraging our resources, capability and experience development in Hong Kong.
Dr Xiaoliang Yang
Country Manager China
Dr Xiaoliang Yang
Country Manager China
Dr. Xiaoliang Yang joined the Global CCS Institute as China Country Manager in March 2022. In his current role, Xiaoliang leads the Institute’s effort to develop and execute policy, advocacy, & client engagement strategies to build political and financial support for CCUS development in China. Xiaoliang holds a PhD in Environmental Science from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a MPA from Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
Supported by
Hong Kong 2050 is Now
Hong Kong 2050 is Now is a Hong Kong-based platform for education, collaboration, and action on the climate crisis. We seek to inspire ambitious target setting, induce behavior change, and mobilise collective action towards a carbon-neutral Hong Kong.
Our initiative in accelerating sustainable development in Hong Kong:
- Educate and engage the public on the risks and opportunities facing Hong Kong in an age of climate crisis, based on rigorous scientific and policy research.
- Encourage personal, corporate and government action to be undertaken now in combating the climate crisis, including personal lifestyle, business best practice, and regulatory change.
- Aggregate the efforts of stakeholders working towards the vision of a Net-Zero carbon Hong Kong, leveraging existing grassroot and community movements to further catalyse their impact.
With thanks to
AECOM
AECOM is the world’s trusted infrastructure consulting firm, delivering professional services throughout the project lifecycle. Ranked #1 in ENR 2022 Top 100 Green Buildings Design Firms, we collaborate with our clients and partners to leave a positive, lasting impact on people and our planet by delivering Sustainable Legacies, our ESG strategy and services offering empowered by innovation.
Our sustainability goals for 2023:
- Invest in developing new processes and digital platforms such as ScopeX™, AECOM’s platform for designing out at least 50% of carbon on major projects that we deliver — from urban planning to asset management.
- Maintain operational net zero status.
- Keep making progress towards attaining science-based net-zero by 2040 through multiple means such as developing carbon reduction targets in partnership with our supply chain, and creating our own natural climate solution projects to offset residual carbon.
- Support the UN SDGs by prioritizing goals that most align with our global business and where we can make a positive impact.
UN SDG(s) that we align with:
- DG 1 No Poverty
- SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
- SDG 4 Quality Education
- SDG 5 Gender Equality
- SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation
- SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
- SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
- SDG 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
- SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
- SDG 13 Climate Action
- SDG 14 Life below Water
- SDG 15 Life on Land
- SDG 16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Legal Name: Aecom Asia Company Limited
General Enquiry Phone Number: (+852) 3922 9000
General Business Address: 12F, Tower 2, Grand Central Plaza, 138 Shatin Rural Committee Road, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China
HSBC
Headline Sponsor for the Sustainable Finance & Supply Chains Theatre
Programme Sponsor for Rethinking Retail
(Day 2 of the BEC Circular Transition Theatre)
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding member of the HSBC Group. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 64 countries and territories in its geographical regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle East and North Africa. With assets of $2,990bn at 31 March 2023, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
Our purpose – Opening up a world of opportunity – explains why we exist. We’re here to use our unique expertise, capabilities, breadth and perspectives to open up new kinds of opportunity for our customers. We’re bringing together the people, ideas and capital that nurture progress and growth, helping to create a better world – for our customers, our people, our investors, our communities and the planet we all share.
Our sustainability goals for 2023:
“We’re focused on helping to deliver a net zero global economy. It’s a pillar of our strategy as a business.”
We aim to achieve net zero in our operations and supply chain by 2030 and in our financing portfolio by 2050. Between now and then, we’re working with our clients to help them reduce their emissions and scale up low-carbon solutions, as we work to reduce our own. This will be a change over time, as businesses and economies progressively move away from high-carbon activities. In addition, we’re providing finance to accelerate climate change solutions and building global partnerships to help channel investment swiftly towards sustainable projects.
As we transform our own operations and supply chain to net zero by 2030 or sooner, we’re asking our suppliers to do the same. We will align our financed emissions – the emissions produced by the customers and projects we finance – to net zero by 2050 or sooner.
We’re setting 2030 targets for emissions reduction in different sectors, focusing on the heaviest emitters first. Our targets include a commitment to phase down our fossil fuel financing in line with what’s needed to achieve net zero by 2050. In the meantime, we continue to support energy clients that take an active role in the energy transition, helping to finance and invest in the technologies and infrastructure needed to succeed. We engage closely with our clients on their transition plans, which helps us to track our own progress towards net zero by 2050.
Solutions Showcase:
- Green Finance & Investments
UN SDG goals that we align with:
- SDG 13 Climate Action
Legal Name: The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited