MoU signature ceremony between HKUST and French companies

This MoU stems from the Team France Green Paper on collaboration opportunities to accelerate the path to carbon neutrality by 2050 in Hong Kong presented to the Hong Kong government in April 2024, followed by the work on a pilot project proposal for a net zero-carbon building shared with the Chief Executive and Hong Kong government in April 2025, on the occasion of the visit to Hong Kong by the Ambassador of France to the People’s Republic of China. In line with its commitment to fighting climate change globally while promoting mutually beneficial economic exchanges with Hong Kong, France is happy to further engage with the Hong Kong SAR government to contribute to this objective, shared by France and the European Union.

This Green paper aims at proposing to make the most of proven advanced technological solutions of French companies which can make a difference with regards to decarbonization targets in four sectors – low carbon construction applied to buildings including retrofitting, clean energy, transportation, waste management and recycling – and to share the French experience to create an environment conducive to the large-scale implementation of such solutions.

This signing ceremony aims at implementing a pilot project of energy efficiency retrofitting of an existing building on the HKUST campus. As the building sector is the main carbon emitter in Hong Kong the renovation of existing buildings will prove critical for Hong Kong to reach its carbon neutrality target, this pilot project will showcase some of the most advanced technologies that a consortium of French companies with longstanding presence in Hong Kong (Bouygues Dragages, Egis, St Gobain, Schneider Electric and Veolia) can offer, which can help to significantly lower the carbon emissions through an innovative model of public-private partnership whereby the financing is brought by the consortium itself.

After discussions with InvestHK and HKUST, in particular with Mrs Christine Loh, former Undersecretary for the Environment of the Hong Kong SAR Government, the LSK building – Business School was identified as fitting the project’s purpose. This project will strengthen cooperation between the public and the private sector for sustainable urban development and will involve a consortium of French companies and can significantly help Hong Kong to reach its goals.