Civil Service College holds first seminar of “25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR: Our Way Forward” series (with photos)
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The Civil Service College has launched the “25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR: Prospects and the Way Forward” seminar series, and held today (July 11) the first seminar on the topic of “Towards Net Zero: Coalition for a Resilient Future” in collaboration with the Hong Kong Academy of Finance (AoF).
Addressing the seminar, the Secretary for the Civil Service, Mrs Ingrid Yeung, said that by exploring national development strategies and the opportunities and challenges presented to Hong Kong through different lenses in this seminar series, civil servants would be better equipped to complement the country’s and Hong Kong’s development in their work.
She mentioned that, as an international financial centre, Hong Kong has plenty opportunities to leverage its edge to contribute to the national development in the process of working towards the goal of net zero emissions. In addition, emission reduction and sustainable development are crucial to the improvement of people’s livelihood and they echo with the “four proposals” laid down by President Xi Jinping for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government in his important speech at the meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term Government of the HKSAR, i.e. further improving its governance, continuing to create strong impetus for growth, earnestly addressing people’s concerns and difficulties in daily life, and working together to safeguard harmony and stability. She expressed the hope that the seminar would help enlighten colleagues on how to put the proposals into practice in respect of emission reduction and sustainable development and in their own work.
The seminar started off with a talk by the Chief Executive Officer of the AoF, Mr Kwok Kwok-chuen, providing an overview of Hong Kong’s transition to net zero emissions, followed by an expert panel discussion moderated by Partner and Head of Environment, Social and Governance, Hong Kong, KPMG China, Mr Pat Woo. Speakers included the Chief Corporate Development Officer of CLP Power Hong Kong Limited, Ms Quince Chong; the General Manager (Technical Services and Sustainable Development) of Swire Properties Limited, Dr Raymond Yau; the Assistant Director of Environmental Protection (Air Policy), Dr Kenneth Leung; and the Managing Director and Head of Sustainable Capital Markets, Global Markets Asia Pacific of BNP Paribas Banking, Ms Chaoni Huang. They shared their views on achieving the goal of carbon neutrality through net-zero carbon emission for electricity generation, sustainable buildings and green transport, and explored the opportunities for Hong Kong as an international green finance hub.
The seminar took place in the College at North Point Government Offices, and was attended by around 90 civil servants at the directorate and senior ranks.