Wired for Change: How Data and Tech Are Shaping Sustainable Supply Chains

Rong leads S&P Global’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) business in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Delivering sustainable solutions across asset classes for corporates and investors, Rong drives S&P Global’s continued expansion and leadership in Asian sustainable finance markets.

Rong is an industry veteran with over a decade of experience in sustainability and climate change having held various ESG-related roles at PwC Strategy&, World Bank and the United Nations across New York, London, Hong Kong, Geneva and Beijing.

Rong is a regular speaker and respected commentator on ESG and sustainable finance issues. She receives her Master of Public Administration from Cornell University.

As the Global Head of Financial Services, Fintech and Sustainability at InvestHK, the department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responsible for attracting Foreign Direct Investment, King’s mission is to enrich the ecosystem and contribute to raising the long-term competitiveness and innovation of the financial services and sustainability sectors in Hong Kong, this includes a strong push to spearhead the promotion of green finance and green technology. King achieves this goal through collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders – regulators, financial institutions, investors, fintech companies, technology parks and industry associations, etc. in Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and other major international financial and fintech hubs.

Prior to joining the government, King had a diverse private sector background as a serial tech entrepreneur, angel investor, fintech lecturer where his first data-related startup was established through seed investment from Credit Suisse. His startup served numerous world-renowned financial institutions in wealth management, insurance, personal finance, etc. Prior to embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, King was a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton and KPMG Consulting in the US, as well as a venture capitalist at Innovate@, a technology fund jointly run by Booz Allen & Hamilton and Lehman Brothers in the US.

King received his MBA in Finance and Strategy (honors) from the University of Chicago and BSc in Mechanical Engineering (honors) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

Green Fintech is the concatenation between impact and power of capital.

Johanna Levy joined GIA in July 2022 as VP ESG to develop strategic programs that strengthen the Institute’s mission. Levy came to GIA from Firmenich, the largest privately owned company in the flavor and fragrance industry. As senior director of global environmental excellence and previously director of sustainability for North America, she built ambitious programs focused on supply chain transparency and net positive impact. Before Firmenich, she worked in-house and as a consultant for Google, Nestlé and the World Gold Council. She holds a Master of Liberal Arts in the field of environmental sciences from Harvard University, a Master of Science in sustainability from Columbia University and a Master’s degree in management from ESCP in France.

Benjamin Soh is the Founder and Managing Director of STACS ESGpedia, Asia’s leading ESG data and technology company, headquartered in Singapore. Its ESGpedia platform powers the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network (ESBN) Asia-Pacific Green Deal digital platform, the Asia-Pacific Single Accesspoint for ESG Data (SAFE) initiative, and the Singapore-Australia Go-Green Co-Innovation Programme. ESGpedia serves as the Nexus of ESG, digitally empowering the corporates, SMEs, and the financial sector to ensure compliance towards ESG regulations and attain their ESG goals.

A serial entrepreneur who previously founded a multinational, regulated B2B FinTech serving the needs of more than 100 financial services firms worldwide, Ben also served as the Chairman of the Green and Sustainable FinTech Sub-Committee of the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), where he is currently still serving as a member, alongside the Singapore Computer Society (SCS) Sustainable Tech Special Interest Group. Ben is the Vice Chairman of the ESBN Task Force on Innovation.

With a personal purpose to bring about positive change in the world with technology, Ben shares his ESG Tech expertise with the leaders of today and the next generation, through frequent thought leadership articles and the various global stages and industry talks he is regularly invited to speak at.

My Sustainability Goals for 2024:

– More government-led initiatives for companies in HK, eg grants, programs and preferential procurement from greener suppliers
– More examples of Queen Bee ecosystems in HK and Greater China, whereby large corporates lead their network of suppliers and vendors to be on the sustainability journey together

Anita is passionate about sustainable change and transformation, working with public-private partnerships to bring together global communities for a positive impact. As the Global Vice President of SAP Sustainability Product Success & Customer Adoption, she leverages 18 years of experience across sustainable supply chain strategy, operations management, and implementing and scaling intelligent enterprise technologies across various industries. She has been named one of the Top 100 Women in Sustainability and recognized in the Green GC Powerlist: Southeast Asia 2023. Additionally, she contributed to “Non-financial Risk Management in the Financial Industry: A Target Operating Model for Compliance and ESG Risks.” Previously, Anita led the SDG Ambition project, launched at the World Economic Forum 2020 in collaboration with the UN Global Compact and Accenture. She is a strong advocate for women’s leadership and the role of sports in accelerating progress towards the Global Goals by 2030.