BEC EnviroSeries Conference - Driving Business Ambition into Action for a Net-Zero Hong Kong Session 1

Mr K.S. Wong
Secretary for the Environment, Hong Kong SAR

Mr KS Wong was born in 1963 and graduated from the Department of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong.  He received further education on sustainable built environment in the postgraduate program from the University of British Columbia in Canada.  He assumed the post of the Secretary for the Environment of the HKSAR Government on 1 July 2012.

As an architect by profession, Mr Wong has been promoting sustainable built environment since 1990s.  His designs and researches on sustainable built environment have won him various local, regional and international awards.  He served as the founder Chairman of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council and the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, and has contributed to the promotion and research of the standards and guidelines for sustainable built environment applicable to the high-density urban environment of Hong Kong.

During his tenure as the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong has launched and updated a number of policy blueprints covering climate actions, energy saving, air quality, popularisation of electric vehicles, waste managementair quality, waste management, energy saving, climate actions and biodiversity.

Mr Peter Bakker
President and CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

For a decade (since 2012), Peter has led WBCSD based in Geneva, Switzerland. WBCSD is the premier global, CEO-led community of over 200 of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working collectively to accelerate the system transformations needed for a net zero, nature positive, and more equitable future.

Peter is a distinguished business leader who, until June 2011, served as CFO and then CEO of TNT NV, the global transport and logistics company. He has been recipient of the Clinton Global Citizen Award (2009) and the Sustainability Leadership Award (2010). Peter serves as a member of several corporate sustainability advisory boards.

He received the royal order Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2018 in recognition of his long-lasting commitment to engaging business in tackling global sustainability issues.

Mr Ken O’Flaherty 
UK Government’s COP26 Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and South Asia

Ken O’Flaherty was appointed the UK government’s COP26 Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and South Asia in March 2020. He was previously the Deputy Head of Mission in Rome from August 2015 until October 2019.  A career diplomat, he has experience in a number of Foreign Office departments, as well as overseas roles in Paris, Tokyo and the UK Representation to the European Union. O’Flaherty has worked on a wide range of issues, from EU cooperation to security, counter-terrorism and migration, economic and energy issues and the Middle East.

Mr Per Augustsson
Consul General, Consulate General of Sweden to Hong Kong and Macau

Per Augustsson is Sweden’s Consul General in Hong Kong since September 2020. He has worked for the Swedish foreign service since 1992 in various positions at the Government Offices in Stockholm and at Swedish missions abroad, including as Deputy Head of the MFA Personnel Department, Deputy Head of the Swedish Embassy in London and Deputy Head of the Swedish Embassy in Beijing.

Mrs Tamsin Heath
Deputy Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao, British Consulate-General Hong Kong

Mrs. Tamsin Heath has been Deputy Consul General since August 2019. She moved from The Hague where she was Senior Strategy Advisor and Head of Public Affairs and Stakeholder Engagement at the Dutch Development Bank, FMO. Tamsin joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2005. She has previously served as Private Secretary to Permanent Under Secretary, Head of Yemen Team (including Charge d’Affaires Sana’a Jan 2012) and First Secretary Economic/Energy, British Embassy Riyadh.

Outside the FCO, Tamsin has worked for RBS Group Economics and HM Treasury.

Mr Torbjörn Magnusson
Chairman, Sustainability Committee, Swedish Chamber of Commerce

Torbjörn Magnusson is the Chairman of the Sustainability committee of the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and a frequent contributor to the opinion pieces and policy advice initiatives that the Chamber is driving, Mr Magnusson serves as the Area Director of HL Display, a global supplier of sustainable indirect equipment for retail stores. Mr Magnusson has a passion for addressing the big systematic questions that can change the globally deteriorating situation with regards to climate change and carbon emissions.

Mr Joe Phelan
Director – Asia Pacific, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Joe is Executive Director, Asia Pacific for the World Business Council for Sustainable   Development, the global, CEO-led community of the world’s leading sustainable businesses working together to realize a net-zero, nature-positive, more equitable future. 

Joe is responsible for the engagement of ambitious companies from across Asia and Australasia in the World Business Council. He has supported collective action projects by business with demonstrable outcomes in areas such as climate change, energy transition, water risk, mobility and more resilient agriculture. 

Prior to joining WBCSD, Joe held senior roles with the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum. Highlights included a series of special reports with the Financial Times on business and sustainable development, the development of the World Business & Development awards with the United Nations and International Chambers of Commerce, and delivery of programs in skills, inclusive business, and anti-corruption. 

Born and educated in the UK, Joe has worked in Asia since 2009. He plays cricket and lives in Delhi with his wife, a writer, and their daughter.

Mr Simon Ng
Chief Executive Officer, Business Environment Council

Mr Simon Ng is Chief Executive Officer of Business Environment Council. 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. Mr Ng runs BEC’s daily operations, leads BEC’s policy contributions, and ensures BEC’s continuing relevance in bringing and creating value to its stakeholders and the community at large. He is also the Vice-Chair of BEC’s three Advisory Groups.
 
Mr Ng has over 25 years of experience in academic and policy research, project management and stakeholder engagement. In particular, Mr Ng is known for his ground-breaking work on ship emissions inventory and evidence-based control policy in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta, and his instrumental role in the Fair Winds Charter – a voluntary business initiative to reduce ship emissions. Before taking the CEO position, Mr Ng was BEC’s Director of Policy & Research for 3 years. Prior to joining BEC, he was Chief Research Officer of a Hong Kong based think tank, and held teaching and research positions in several local universities. Currently, Mr Ng is a Member of the Council for Sustainable Development of the Hong Kong SAR Government. Internationally, Mr Ng is an Expert Member of the UNCRD Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia since 2006.

Welcome Remarks

Mr Kevin O’Brien, Chairman, Business Environment Council

Keynote Speech 

Mr KS Wong, Secretary for the Environment, HKSAR

Session 1: The State of Climate Ambition and Action

Moderator: Mr Simon Ng, Chief Executive Officer, Business Environment Council

Keynote Presentation:

Mr Peter Bakker, President and CEO, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Keynote Presentation:

Mr Ken O’Flaherty, UK Government’s COP26 Regional Ambassador to Asia-Pacific and South Asia

Keynote Presentation:

Mr Per Augustsson, Consul General, Consulate General of Sweden to Hong Kong and Macau

Panel Discussion

• Mrs Tamsin Heath, Deputy Consul General to Hong Kong and Macao, British Consulate-General Hong Kong
• Mr Torbjörn Magnusson, Chairman, Sustainability Committee, Swedish Chamber of Commerce
• Mr Joe Phelan, Director – Asia Pacific, World Business Council for Sustainable Development