Future-Proofing Operations: Corporate Adaptation and Resilience

Professor WONG Kam Sing, GBS, JP

Professor Wong is currently chairman of Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation (WZQ), and serves as honorary/adjunct professor in various universities including The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is Distinguished Department of Architecture Fellow and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration, HKU, Adjunct Professor in the School of Architecture, CUHK, and Honorary Professor in Hong Kong Chu Hai College.

WZQ was formally established in 2007, recently with charity projects in both Mainland Chinese and Hong Kong focusing on “rural revitalization x youth development x low-carbon transformation”. In Hong Kong, WZQ is leading two recent community projects, namely Management Agreement Scheme at Lai Chi Wo Enclave, and Jockey Club Sha Tau Kok Eco Eight Recycling and Ecotourism Education Project.

Professor Wong published the book Hong Kong’s Stories in the Journey towards Carbon Neutrality in 2024, and has been acting as a columnist contributing monthly articles on stories about Hong Kong community’s climate and environmental actions via the online media outlet HK01 since July 2024.

He was the former Secretary for the Environment in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government in 2012-2022. During his 10-year tenure as the “Environment Minister”, he launched a series of policy blueprints on climate actions, energy saving, clean air, popularisation of electric vehicles, waste management, and biodiversity conservation, leading Hong Kong towards carbon neutrality before 2050.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026: 

1. Strengthening climate governance
2. Enhancing biodiversity and countryside conservation

Jessica is the Head of Sustainability at MTR Corporation, where she leads the development of the Corporation’s sustainability strategies, drives key initiatives, oversees sustainability reporting and disclosures, and supports sustainable finance initiatives. With over 25 years of experience in environmental and corporate sustainability, Jessica is a seasoned professional who actively participates in several international and local sustainability-related committees. She serves as Vice Chair of the Sustainable Development Committee of The International Association of Public Transport and is a member of the Environment & Sustainability Committee of The Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce. She is also appointed as a Co-opt Member of the Sub-committee on Low-carbon Transition under the Council for Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Development of the HKSAR Government. In addition, Jessica contributes to academia as a member of the Programme Advisory Committee for an MSc sustainability programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and serves as an Advisory Board member for an MSc ESG Management programme at Lingnan University. Since 2021, she has been a Board of Examiners member for the HKMA Sustainability Award.

Prof SHUN Chi-ming graduated from the University of Hong Kong in Bachelor of Science, with major in Physics. He joined the Hong Kong Observatory in 1986. He received post-graduate training in radiological protection and meteorology in the United Kingdom in 1987-88. He specialized in aeronautical meteorology since the 1990s and led the development of the world-first LIDAR Windshear Alerting System for the Hong Kong International Airport. He was promoted to Director of the Hong Kong Observatory in 2011 and retired in 2020.

In the international arena, Prof Shun was President of the Commission for Aeronautical Meteorology of the UN World Meteorological Organization during 2010-2018, the first Asian elected to take up this high international position.

After retirement, Prof Shun has been active in popularization of science and meteorology, as a writer of books, columnist on climate change, and speaker for schools and professional bodies. In 2023, Prof Shun was appointed member of the Council for Carbon Neutrality and Sustainable Development, and he joined the Division of Environment and Sustainability of HKUST as Adjunct and Visiting Professor. In the same year, he obtained Master of Arts in Comparative and Public History from CUHK. In 2025, Prof Shun also joined The Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care of CUHK as Adjunct Professor.

Noah Wescombe is a Senior Climate Resilience Specialist at Cadlas, a technical advisory practice specialising in climate adaptation finance within the global investment landscape. He both leads and supports technical climate adaptation finance work for MDBs, DFIs, and major global investor initiatives, and spearheads product innovation at Cadlas. He previously spent over 2 years at the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, originating and leading their physical climate risk programme. Noah is also a globally recognised resilience expert, sitting on a number of working groups for governments, non-profits, and investor initiatives focused on food security, physicial climate risk, and resilience.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

I hope to see a greater awareness for the need to develop more robust resilience metrics, engage effectively on physical risk and resilience outcomes, and most importantly resilience performance. Serious discussions of adaptation alpha identification and product development is essential for progress on filling the financing gap regionally and globally.