CCA organised a webinar discussing the main takeaways of COP26 and the highlights from the Hong Kong Exchange’s newly published “Practical Net-Zero Guide for Business” on 20 December 2021. The event was held across two sessions, a morning session in Cantonese and an afternoon session in English, and attracted attendance from over 200 participants.

CCA Director and Head of Climate Strategy Mr John Sayer kicked-off the webinar by sharing his main observations from COP26 which he personally attended, including both the positive progress that came out of the talks as well as the challenges that remain to be tackled. Mr Sayer gave an overview of the various voluntary initiatives that were announced, including the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, the Global Methane Pledge, amongst others, followed by a rundown of the bilateral pacts that were declared, including the importance of the US-China Joint Glasgow Declaration on Enhancing Climate Action. Mr Sayer closed his session with an analysis of the implications for businesses as a result, and the critical urgency for action to be taken immediately.

Attendees next had the opportunity to hear from Ms Grace Hui, Managing Director and Head of Green and Sustainable Finance at the Hong Kong Exchange. Ms Hui gave a compelling argument as to why companies need to immediately begin preparations for their net-zero transitions, not only because of the catastrophic physical impacts of human-induced climate change, but also because of resulting implications on the global economy. Ms Hui provided an overview on the long-term drivers of sustainable and ESG investment, as well as the current actions that companies are taking in Hong Kong and mainland China. Ms Hui closed her session with objectives for the Net-Zero Guide, and how the HKEX’s information-sharing platform STAGE will continue to support Asia’s sustainable finance ecosystem.

Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA, then presented the highlights of the HKEX “Practical Net-Zero Guide for Business”, a step-by-step guide which CCA was engaged to develop for companies committed to kick-starting their net-zero journeys. He began with describing the key starting steps, before further elaborating on how companies with higher ambitions can develop their own holistic green strategies and potentially even achieve mitigation beyond their own value chains.

The panel discussions that followed featured Ir Dr Shelley Zhou, Adjunct Associate Professor at HKUST and Mr Victor Cheng, Sustainability Director from Fossil Group in the morning; and Ms Amelie Tan, Regional Lead, Commit to Action, from CDP and Mr Huw Andrews, SVP, Supply and Manufacturing from Fossil Group in the afternoon. Among others, corporate experience and observations were shared on topics such as the pick-up of interest in the net-zero agenda, the challenges for companies to meet Science-based Targets and manage their Scope 3 emissions, and the ways in which they can solicit support from their supply chain. Participants were eager to raise questions and exchange their views with the speakers and panelists.

【Webinar】Debriefing on COP26 and HKEX Net-Zero Guide

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Photo captions:

1. (From left to right) Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA, presented the highlights of the HKEX “Practical Net-Zero Guide for Business”; Ms Grace Hui, Managing Director and Head of Green and Sustainable Finance at the Hong Kong Exchange, explained the benefits for companies going for a net-zero transition; and Mr John Sayer, CCA Director, shared his personal observations from COP26.
2. (From left to right) Panelists joining the Cantonese session — Mr Victor Cheng, Sustainability Director from Fossil Group and Ir Dr Shelley Zhou, Adjunct Associate Professor at HKUST.
3. (From left to right) Panelists sharing their views at the English session — Ms Amelie Tan, Regional Lead, Commit to Action, from CDP and Mr Huw Andrews, SVP, Supply and Manufacturing, from Fossil Group.