Tony Verb; Co-Founder, Carbonless Asia

Moonkyung Kim; Advisor, The Lightsmith Group

Eric Chong; Former CEO and President, Siemens Limited

Moderated by

Alexandra Tracy; Chairman, Financial Services Research Group

The Financial Research Services Group, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong, invite three exceptional experts, climate change advocates and co-authors for an insightful online panel discussion to present the highlights and findings of their new book “Decarbonizing Asia: Innovation, Investments and Opportunities”. The panel consists of Tony Verb, Co-Founder of Carbonless Asia; Moonkyung Kim, environmental engineer and advisor to The Lightsmith Group; and, Eric Chong, a seasoned businessman who has served as CEO and President of Siemens Limited.

As more than half of the world’s carbon dioxide is emitted in Asia, the region has to become a leader in the global fight against climate change.  This transition also presents one of the greatest investment opportunities of the coming decades.  “Decarbonizing Asia” is a pivotal new book which explores decarbonisation and innovation across Asia, including the Middle East and Oceania, highlighting initiatives by industry leaders and the public sector to reduce emissions.

Across the globe and particularly in Asia, how can capital, technological innovation and policy development be brought together to achieve 2050 Net Zero targets? During the panel discussion, our speakers reflect on the findings of their research, sharing how the region is alarmingly laggard in its progress towards the 2050 goals, and immediate action is required. The immense dilemma notwithstanding, panellists also shared the positive opportunities that also arise from this situation for those companies and stakeholders willing to take the necessary steps towards reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainability frameworks. The experts also share valuable insights on how energy use can be decoupled from economic growth and how mindset change and organisational restructuring can ensure that the economic development today does not deprive future generations of the resources essential to meet their needs.

Tony Verb highlighted the need to focus on scalable technologies that already exist and can help support the progress towards hitting Net Zero targets, urging stakeholders to not wait on developing technologies that require years in the making because, as already mentioned, the region and the world as a whole simply do not have the capacity to risk missing out on the now. He also highlighted startups across Asia, mentioning those in Hong Kong in particular, that are setting a good example of sustainable practices companies and institutions can adopt to contribute to targets. Eric Chong delves into the costs and consequences of unregulated energy use not only in terms of carbon emissions but also in terms of biodiversity loss; he goes on to elaborate on some ways that policymakers can adopt changes to create tangible and positive impact by harmonising public and private sector cooperation towards Net Zero. Moonkyung Kim imparts valuable and technical insight on the type of ways that we can reduce emissions, ranging from carbon sequestration to artificial islands for the generation of renewable energy. She also highlighted the need for stricter monitoring, reporting and verification and for the creation of contractual and legal structures to ensure standardisation of these processes.

Julia Charlton; Chairman, Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong

Andrew Wells; Secretary-General, Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong