Net Zero & Nature Positive Theatre (Keynote)
Sustainable Horizons: Hong Kong’s Progress on the Road to Net Zero
Day 1 : 10:00 – 10:50
Facing climate change, pollution, and resource depletion, global efforts to enforce environmental regulations are driving businesses toward sustainability and compliance, while fostering social responsibility. Central to this movement is the shift towards net-zero emissions, a transformation that goes beyond meeting regulatory demands to fundamentally changing business operations for long-term sustainability.
This session will bring together esteemed leaders as we explore the impacts and opportunities of these changes. Offering insightful discussions and expert guidance, the conference aims to equip businesses with the tools to thrive in this changing landscape, highlighting the role of regulatory changes in driving a sustainable, resilient future for Hong Kong’s business sector.
Learnings
- How are some of Hong Kong’s most complex organisations working to engage internal and external ecosystems to navigate climate action across multiple industries and geographies?
- What systemic changes and partnerships are needed to help us execute climate commitments, and turn transition risks to opportunities?
- How can we work together to tackle challenges, while maintaining growth ambitions and shareholder value creation?
- How can leadership companies leverage innovation to inspire ambition and drive solutions to reduce our carbon footprint over the next five to ten years? What are our biggest barriers?
- What impact are businesses feeling with new regulations being enforced?
Post-event Actions
- Gain insights on leading organisations’ carbon reduction approaches and cross-industry solutions.
- Rethink actions that your company and industry should focus on over the next ten years to turn risks into leadership opportunities, and make meaningful impact at the scale needed to address today’s most pressing climate challenges.
- Understand why business leaders have a compelling and common interest to work along each other and ensure the transformation of every aspect of industry to contribute to a net-zero economy by 2050
Speakers
Moderator
Dr Margaret Burnett
Programme Director
The University of Hong Kong
Dr Margaret Burnett
The University of Hong Kong
Programme Director
Currently the Programme Director for the Master of Social Science in Sustainability Leadership and Governance, in the Centre for Civil Society and Governance at the University of Hong Kong. Margaret has developed this Master programme to enhance learning, grow deeper understanding, and enable professionals to implement sustainability initiatives across all roles. Empowering both students and clients to integrate sustainability into personal and core organizational decision-making processes as this is time critical and, the focus the programme. She is often a guest speaker, and partners with organizations to provide support to their in-house sustainability strategies, currently through the lens of climate change related factors, and mechanisms for greater stakeholder engagement.
My Sustainability Goals for 2024:
For leaders, at all levels, to put into action significant changes to their operating environment given the tools at their disposal, and a greater level of authentic collaboration that truly seeks human-centric solutions. Let’s be on the right side of the climate change battle!
Mark Harper
Group Head of Sustainability
Swire Pacific
Mark Harper
Swire Pacific
Group Head of Sustainability
Mr Mark Harper has worked for around 20 years in the field of corporate sustainability. As Group Head of Sustainability at Swire, Mr Harper is responsible for managing the Group Sustainable Development Office, and leading on the design, execution and performance monitoring of the global corporate sustainability strategy for the Swire Group. As well as, acting as the lead change agent in driving improved sustainability performance and best practices, with a view to further embedding sustainability into overall business strategy for Swire.
Prior to taking up the Group Head of Sustainability role, Mr Harper had worked at John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd. for over seven years, where he was responsible for managing the Group’s ESG disclosures as well as advising operating companies on their own ESG submissions. In addition to his work on ESG ratings, Mr Harper was also responsible for advising the Group on policy and strategy development, particularly in the areas of climate resilience, biodiversity and sustainable waste management. He also sits on the Board of Business Environment Council, the Executive Committee of the Drink Without Waste working group and is Chair of the ESG Committee of the British Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.
Mr Harper has extensive experience of ESG disclosure standards such as GRI and the Hong Kong Exchange ESG Reporting Guide, as well as conducting sector focused benchmarking studies, corporate environmental management, as well as organising hands-on corporate citizenship and CSR training programmes.
Before joining John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd., Mr Harper worked in a number of senior management roles at high profile NGOs including the Earthwatch Institute, Fauna & Flora International, China Water Risk, and Business Environment Council, where he was responsible for managing the organisations advisory services on ESG reporting and corporate sustainability strategy development.
My Sustainability Goals for 2024
- Rollout of the Group’s Net Zero Carbon emissions and zero to landfill commitments.
- Finalising the Group’s climate risk assessment process and analysis.