BEC Climate & Nature Theatre

From Crisis to Opportunity: Bridging Climate and Nature for City Resilience

11 Sep (Thur) Day 1 : 11:35 – 12:15

This fireside chat will examine into the critical interconnections between climate and nature, highlighting how biodiversity and healthy functioning ecosystems are essential to building and maintaining Hong Kong’s resilience amid intensifying extreme weather events and disruption of natural ecosystem services. The two expert speakers will focus on the pivotal role of public, private and other stakeholders in driving change and outline actionable pathways for collaboration, partnership and investment to ensure the city not only adapts to a rapidly changing climate but leverages opportunities to create a more resilient future.

Learnings

  • Gain a deeper understanding of how preserving biodiversity can bolster city-level resilience against extreme weather and physical risk
  • Highlight real-world examples of nature-based solutions that can feasibly be integrated into urban planning and policy

Post-event actions

  • Advocate for action that supports biodiversity preservation and utilises nature conservation as a key element of Hong Kong’s resilience strategy
  • Spark ideas for potential partnerships between Governments, businesses and NGOs to implement solutions that can address climate adaptation and biodiversity loss

Speakers

Simon Ng

Business Environment Council

Chief Executive Officer

Mr Simon Ng is Chief Executive Officer of Business Environment Council (BEC). He works closely with BEC Board of Directors in setting and implementing organisation goals and strategies conducive to supporting BEC members and the wider business community in the transition towards net-zero economy and a sustainable Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

Mobilise corporates in Hong Kong for accelerated climate action.

Dindo Campilan

IUCN – International Union for Conservation of Nature

Regional Director for Asia & Hub Director for Oceania

Dr. Dindo Campilan has worked in senior leadership roles for over 20 years with the world’s leading international development and research organizations in agriculture, food and environment. He is currently Regional Director for Asia and Hub Director for Oceania of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest and oldest environment organization. He directs IUCN’s program serving 48 countries in Asia and Oceania to support government, non-government and private business sectors towards a nature-positive future for healthy planet and people.

Earlier he held similar leadership roles with: i) CGIAR international agricultural research centers, the world’s largest agri-food research and development network, and ii) International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN agency mandated to set global standards, develop policies and devise programs promoting decent work. He holds a PhD in Agriculture and Environment Sciences from Wageningen University in The Netherlands.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025 

– catalyzing public-private investments for nature-positive sustainability goals and metrics
– mainstreaming the climate-biodiversity nexus in cross-sectoral sustainability agendas

Carmen Or

WWF-Hong Kong

Manager, Wetlands Research

Dr. Carmen Or, the editor of “The State of Hong Kong Biodiversity 2025,” has been with WWF-Hong Kong since 2017 and is based at the Mai Po Nature Reserve. She leads and manages the research and monitoring program in Mai Po, providing critical insights that inform habitat management for the Reserve. In addition to experience on wetland research, Dr. Or earned her PhD in Biological Science from the University of Hong Kong, focusing on Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin. She is also a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Otter Specialist Group, contributing her expertise to the conservation of various species.

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