Rethinking the Intersection of AI and Sustainability
12 Sep (Fri) Day 2 : 14:30 – 16:00
As sustainability reshapes investment, AI is emerging as both a catalyst and a challenge. From processing ESG data to forecasting climate risks and detecting greenwashing, AI has the potential to transform sustainable finance. However, firms are still grappling with ethical concerns, responsible adoption, and building the right skillsets.
Join CFA Institute for a dynamic roundtable exploring how professionals can harness AI to drive sustainable value while maintaining transparency, trust, and sound judgment. Drawing on global expertise, the session will highlight practical ways to balance innovation with integrity.
Additionally, we’ll also consider the sustainability of AI itself, including its energy demands, carbon footprint, social impacts, and the need for ethical oversight. By addressing both how AI can advance sustainability and how we can ensure AI is sustainable, this roundtable fosters a holistic dialogue on the opportunities and challenges that AI presents for the future of finance.
Together, we’ll examine how organizations can responsibly integrate AI into sustainability strategies, elevate decision-making, and prepare for a future where human and machine intelligence must work in concert.
Learnings:
- Explore high impact use cases: Understand how AI is transforming climate modeling, ESG screening, impact measurement, and portfolio optimization.
- Address ethical blind spots: Learn how to identify and mitigate risks around data bias, model opacity, and accountability in AI-driven decisions.
- Build future-ready teams: Gain insight into the new capabilities finance professionals need to lead at the intersection of AI and sustainability—and how credentialing and continuous learning can close the skills gap.
- Develop a responsible AI roadmap: Discover practical steps to build governance, transparency, and risk controls into AI implementation across investment functions.
- Learn from global leaders: Hear real-world examples of how asset managers and institutions are embedding AI into their sustainability strategies—while maintaining investor trust and regulatory alignment.
Post-Event Actions:
- Evaluate your organization’s use of AI in ESG and sustainability workflows—identify where gaps in transparency, skill, or oversight may exist.
- Start a dialogue with data and tech teams to align on responsible AI principles and sustainability goals.
- Use learnings to shape your professional development roadmap, focusing on emerging intersections of finance, sustainability, and data science
Speakers
Mary Leung
Senior Advisor, Research and Advocacy, Asia Pacific
CFA Institute
Mary Leung
CFA Institute
Senior Advisor, Research and Advocacy, Asia Pacific
Mary is a distinguished advocate and speaker for a range of capital markets-related topics, including fund raising, shareholder rights, corporate governance, diversity,
sustainability, and ESG. She has over 20 years of experience in the global financial industry, with expertise in corporate finance, wealth management advisory and institutional fund management, having worked at institutions such as UBS and Coutts.
Prior to her current role as a Senior Advisor at CFA Institute, Mary served as Head of Policy, Registration and Oversight at the Accounting and Financial Council, the independent audit and accounting regulator in Hong Kong. In that role, she was responsible for policy development and the delivery of statutory functions relating to the registration of audit practitioners, and the oversight of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. From 2016 to 2022, she was Head, Advocacy, Asia Pacific at CFA Institute, leading research and advocacy efforts that drive market integrity, investor protection, and industry professionalism
Mary is a CFA Charterholder and a recognized thought leader in market integrity and
investor protection.
David von Eiff
Director, Global Industry Standards
CFA Institute
David von Eiff
CFA Institute
Director, Global Industry Standards
David von Eiff joined CFA Institute in 2021 as a sustainability specialist. David brings has a combined 13 years of experience in environmental compliance, research, and sustainability. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy at the City University of Hong Kong and his Master of Science in Environmental Economics and Public Policy at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. His main research areas address the economic, sustainability and climate change issues associated with water supply management decisions. He previously spent 8 years regulatory specialist in Environmental, Health & Safety Management Systems, having clients across a wide range of industries to improve their environmental programs and identified methods by which they could make their operations more sustainable, including process redesign, water and energy conservation, and developing environmental management systems.
My Sustainability Goals for 2025
I would like to see Hong Kong accelerates the adoption of a diversified water supply mix to reduce reliance on imported water from the Dongjiang River, which currently accounts for about 70-80% of the city’s freshwater. Incorporating water reclamation and desalination in a “fit-for-purpose” approach could lower carbon emissions compared to heavy reliance on desalination alone. In 2025, I’d like to see policy commitments to expand water reclamation significantly and integrate advanced technologies like smart water grids to enhance resilience against climate-driven water scarcity in the Pearl River Delta.
Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 sets a goal of carbon neutrality before 2050, with interim targets for 2035. In 2025, I hope to see accelerated investment in green infrastructure, such as a focus on retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency to cut emissions from electricity generation, which accounts for roughly two-thirds of the city’s carbon footprint.
With thanks to
CFA Institute
Booth G55
As the global association of investment professionals, CFA Institute sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. We champion ethical behavior in investment markets and serve as the leading source of learning and research for the investment industry. We believe in fostering an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. With more than 200,000 charterholders worldwide across more than 160 markets, CFA Institute has 10 offices and 158 local societies.
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