Our Food Systems: Recoupling Climate & Nature

Katie is a Senior Officer on BEC’s Policy & Research team, where she works on impactful projects addressing existing and emerging environmental challenges, and initiatives to embed sustainability into business action – Hong Kong’s broader climate transition. Katie leads the team’s work on nature and biodiversity to narrow the gap between business and nature, embed biodiversity considerations into local policy, business and financial decision-making and support nature-based solutions in Hong Kong. Prior to her Hong Kong chapter, Katie worked in the UK with impact investors and sustainability-minded corporates on climate change policy, the blue economy, biodiversity and nature conservation. Katie is a Geography graduate of King’s College London.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

1. Continuing stakeholder engagement and collaboration to drive industry action on nature, biodiversity and the broader environment.
2. Advancing and mainstreaming Hong Kong’s ambition on biodiversity topics and mainstreaming understanding of the climate-nature nexus through policy advocacy and fostering public-private sector dialogue

Mike is a sustainable business transformation agent, committed to helping business big and small, new and established to prepare for and succeed in the complex transformation to a Society, and Economy that serves it, that is healthier, more sustainable and more just.

He’s the co-founder of Planeatry Alliance that’s helping companies transform the food system by linking their work on human health and sustainability.

Mike was until 2019 Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, spearheading its ground-breaking Plan A (because there is no Plan B for the one planet we have) sustainability program. He co-chaired the Consumer Goods Forum’s sustainability work bringing the world’s largest retailers and fast moving consumer goods brands together to work on issues such as deforestation, plastics and forced labour. He is a Senior Associate at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and a Trustee at Blueprint for Better Business. And Chair of local charity Greener Henley.

Lit Ping Low brings over 20 years of experience in driving sustainability and climate change priorities across a wide range of sectors including retail, food and beverage, hospitality and conglomerates.

As the Group Sustainability Director at DFI Retail Group, Lit Ping leads the development and implementation of DFI’s sustainability strategy, including the decarbonisation of operations and supply chain, climate and environmental sustainability risk management, and ensuring transparent sustainability disclosures. She leads and represents DFI in key partnerships and collaborations on sustainability to deliver our strategic ambition with our ecosystem partners.

Prior to DFI, she was PwC’s Asia Pacific Climate lead partner, supporting businesses and governments in developing net zero strategies, managing climate risks, and mobilising green finance. Her experience also includes extensive collaboration with international organisations such as the World Economic Forum, UNFCCC, UNEP Finance Initiative, and the Carbon Disclosure Project, contributing to global dialogues on climate transition pathways and sustainable finance frameworks.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

Lit Ping’s ongoing priorities is to lead DFI’s efforts to meet our short- and medium- term sustainability targets. In 2026, this includes looking at more breakthrough or innovative collaboration approaches that can help amplify our strategic ambition across all People, Products and Planet priorities.

Matt Reid is an award-winning entrepreneur and creative leader in global hospitality. As Co-founder of Maximal Concepts and KIN Farms, he has led the creation of more than 60 restaurants and lifestyle concepts worldwide, earning over 500 international accolades for innovation, design, and guest experience. Through KIN Farms, he extends this work upstream — championing ingredient change as a quiet but practical lever for climate change, with animal welfare, traceability, and lower-carbon farming at the foundation.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

• Highlight food miles and promote local farms
• Reduce or remove single use plastic consumption
• Promote greater equality in the food supply chain with farmers, biodiversity and the environment all treated as fairly as stakeholders

Carol Tse leads the implementation of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) at Vitasoy, driving the integration of nature-related risks, impacts, dependencies, and opportunities into business strategy and operations. With over a decade of experience in corporate sustainability and strategy across sectors including conglomerates, luxury and food and beverage, she focuses on advancing the management of climate- and nature-related issues throughout the value chain and embedding sustainability into business decision-making.

Prior to her corporate career, Carol worked as an environmental consultant, conducting environmental impact and biological risk assessments to support regulatory compliance and biodiversity conservation.
Carol holds a Master’s degree in Biology and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

My Sustainability Goals for 2026:

Strengthen engagement and long-term planning for nature-related risks and opportunities, embedding sustainability considerations across the company, city, and region.