The Retrofit Reinvention: Bridging the Gaps in Policy, Finance and Engineering

Ms. Zoe Lau is General Manager and Group Head of People & Sustainability Division at The Bank of East Asia, Limited (“BEA”) in charge of formulating people, sustainability, corporate branding and communications strategies, as well as steering related policies and initiatives of the Bank Group for Hong Kong, Chinese Mainland and branches in other markets.

Ms. Lau joined BEA in March 2020. With extensive experience in advertising, corporate communications, marketing, personal banking, wealth management, corporate planning, investor relations and corporate social responsibility, she has held senior positions in financial institutions such as American Express International and China CITIC Bank International. Prior to joining the Bank, she was Director of CEO Office of China CITIC Bank International.

Ms. Lau holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from the University of Hong Kong (“HKU”), and is currently a master’s degree candidate in Sustainability Leadership and Governance at HKU.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

The success of Hong Kong’s sustainability journey is dependent on effective stakeholder engagement. Since the banking industry plays a pivotal role in driving global progress towards net zero, and given my unique position as Group Head of People and Sustainability at The Bank of East Asia, I realise the importance of communicating and collaborating with a wide array of internal and external stakeholders across geographies, who often hold different perspectives and focuses.

It is through strong stakeholder engagement that we solicit commitment and mobilise resources from all walks of life to accelerate the achievement of sustainability goals set by Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland. In this way, we should not only be able to keep pace with developments in the European Union and elsewhere, but also contribute to sustainability efforts on a global scale.

Nana joined Impax in 2022 and is responsible for leading Impax’s sustainability and ESG research and advocacies in Asia-Pacific. Nana researches, prioritizes and organizes ESG engagements with Impax’s investee companies and regulators, manages external sustainability and ESG-related inquiries, and assists in the ongoing development of the Impax proprietary ESG-analysis and methodologies.

Prior to joining Impax, Nana worked as the Research and Project Director at the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA). At ACGA, Nana published five significant reports relating to corporate governance research in Asia. Whilst there, she also presented to the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges and the Shenzhen Asset Management Association. Since 2018, Nana has been the Chair of ACGA’s China working group, a role she continues to fill today. Upon joining Impax, Nana remains a Specialist Consultant to ACGA.

Nana has spoken at international conferences hosted by a number of financial institutions and international organisations including ACGA, ADB, AmCham, BritCham, CDP, CFA, CLSA, Deutsche Bank, EMIA, Forbes, GRI, HSBC, ICGN, IEEFA, LSEG, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, OECD, PRI and Responsible Investor. She was also interviewed by many international media including CGTN (CCTV’s English Channel), Financial Times, Ignites Asia and The Asset.

Besides sitting on the Stakeholder Advisory Council of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) and the International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants (IESBA), Nana also sits on the Financial Capital Committee of the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN), the ESG Committee of the Women in Finance Asia and the Caixin China ESG30 Forum. She is also an instructor of the Association of Stewardship Professionals (StePs).

Nana has an MBA from the University of Chicago (Honors), a Master of Finance from the University of Hong Kong (Dean’s List), and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales (Distinction). She is a CFA charterholder and has finished the HKICPA Qualification Program.

Lizette is a Managing Partner of dynamic impact-driven decarbonization firm IXO Partners, headquartered in Hong Kong by two women civil engineers specialising in structural engineering (the ‘inside’) and façade design (the ‘outside’). Leveraging a combined 27 years of design-through-construction expertise, IXO Partners helps building industry stakeholders appraise and navigate ‘new normal’ carbon, circularity, and climate resilience risks for new and existing buildings.

Lizette is responsible for the ‘outside’ stream at IXO: façade design and consulting. Facades are complex systems, representing both significant embodied carbon and significant impact to operational carbon during their lifetime. Lizette’s deep understanding of façade materials, envelope thermal performance, modular systems, façade failures and remediation, construction contracts and supply chains, is derived from firsthand experience on local and international projects across APAC, Europe and the Middle East. In Hong Kong, she advocates for sustainable urban development as the Lead of the Net Zero Working Group at the Australian Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong and supports women in STEM as a past member of The Women’s Foundation (TWF) Advisory Council 2023-2024.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

1. Mass adoption of practical and scalable decarbonization technology, particularly via the Hong Kong Green Tech Challenge
2. Updates to local Building Code regulation to permit engineering material and design innovations

Ir Dr Conrad Wong is a professional engineer who has over 30 years of building construction experience. He is the Vice Chairman of Yau Lee Holdings Limited, Managing Director of Yau Lee Construction and REC Engineering Co Ltd. He has a keen interest in green building technologies, Building Information Modeling (BIM), modular and precast construction, and manufacturing automation.

Since 2017, Ir Dr Wong has been putting a great deal of effort in developing various robotic and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for the construction industry. He received his Doctor of Philosophy Degree at City University of Hong Kong, specializing in adopting AI to optimize energy consumption for large scale central air conditioning system.

Currently, he is appointed as the Chairman of the Council of the Hong Kong Metropolitan University, the President of the Hong Kong Modular Integrated Construction Manufacturer Association, the Vice Chairman of the Energy Advisory Committee and the Chairman of the New Energy Transport Fund Steering Committee. In the past, Ir Dr Wong served as the Deputy Chairman of Vocational Training Council, the Chairman of the Occupational Safety and Health Council, the Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, the President of the Hong Kong Construction Association, the President of the International Federation of Asian and Western Pacific Contractors’ Associations, the Chairman of Pneumoconiosis Compensation Fund Board, the Member of Construction Industry Council, the Member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, the Member of Town Planning Board and the Director of the World Green Building Council.