Scaling Sustainable Blue Solutions

Lydia is a dedicated practitioner with over 15 years of experience in conservation and community empowerment initiatives. Her work spans a broad range of issues, including wetlands, oceans, and climate change. Since 2022, she has been leading the ocean conservation programme of WWF Hong Kong, demonstrating her deep commitment to protecting the environment and empowering communities to take action. Lydia holds a Master of Science in Environmental Management with a key interest in conservation policy and is a member of the IUCN Horseshoe Crab Species Specialist Group.

Ms. Leng Fei has experience working in various government departments and international organizations, including the Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Beijing Office, the Anhui Province Forestry Department, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), among others.

Her work has focused on biodiversity conservation, climate and energy issues, wetland protection, and green finance. Currently, she serves as the National Coordinator of UNDP BIOFIN China, where she is primarily responsible for coordinating the biodiversity finance programme in China. In addition, she acts as the Chinese focal point and project manager for the Global Biodiversity Framework Early Action Support Programme (GBF EAS) and the NBSAP Updates Programme, as well as for the UNDP-implemented Task Force on Nature-related Finance Disclosure (TNFD) and other global initiatives. She is also the focal point for UNDP at the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

Ms. Leng Fei also oversees a conservation project supported by the private sector, including DR PLANT and NIO. A certified coach of conservation standards. She is committed to mobilizing financial resources to support biodiversity conservation and sustainable use in China. Her efforts include implementing several projects to assist local governments and organizations in achieving the goals set by the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Additionally, she was responsible for the coordination of UNDP in CBD COP15.

Furthermore, Ms. Leng Fei serves as an employment guidance mentor at the Ocean University of China.

Lead author of the recently published ‘Blue Finance for a Blue Economy – pathways to marine conservation in Hong Kong, Kate is a seasoned sustainable finance specialist with 30 years in financial markets, now focused on expanding blue economy financing and structuring conservation finance. Based in Hong Kong since 1992, she built and led a team structuring hedging solutions across APAC at SMBC Capital Markets (Asia) and spearheaded derivatives coverage for financial institutions, successfully launching profitable business segments for the bank.
Subsequently, at Pacific Risk Advisors, she assessed material ESG risks in supply chains across China and Southeast Asia.

Beyond finance, Kate is an adventurer at heart, passionate about the outdoors and inspiring others to explore.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

1. Recognition of the blue economy by the issuance of the first blue bond in Hong Kong
2. Innovative blended finance structures being used to finance conservation projects such as reforestation and coastal protection

ZHANG Yimo is the Priority Project Coordinator of Sustainable Blue Economy, World Wide Fund for Nature Beijing Office. His portfolio encompasses sustainable fisheries, sustainable blue economy policies, marine protected areas, and the No Plastic in Nature initiative, among others.

Previously, he conserved wetlands and waterbirds in the Yangtze at multiple levels, from individual wetland restoration to sub-basin governance and national policy advocacy. He used to serve as the NGO focal point in China for the Ramsar Convention, the inter-governmental treaty on wetland conservation.

He has served for 17 years in WWF, taking various roles and thus enjoying opportunities in working with different stakeholders, from governmental departments and NGO fellows to corporate and academic institutes. He understands profoundly how NGOs can catalyze changes among different sectors.