SHARP Forum

Artificial meats, either plant-based or cultured, are meat without animals in essence. Besides protecting animal welfare and resolving food shortage, they are developed to remedy the harming livestock farming, which emits about 15% of global greenhouse gases. To serve as sustainable meat alternatives, artificial meats must be sufficiently nutritious, healthy, tasty, and affordable. Are they ready to revolutionize our diet needs? What are the challenges and opportunities for food-tech start-ups and green-food entrepreneurs? Explore with us.

Buildings in Hong Kong — a city that never sleeps — account for the city’s 90% of electricity used and over 60% of carbon emitted. To mitigate the adverse environmental impacts, the Government has issued subsidies for qualified buildings to retrofit energy-efficient systems. However, many buildings are still far from green. What are and how to alleviate the concerns that prevent buildings from turning green? Could green turn gold? How? Explore the answers with experienced engineers and architects.

Before putting on your new t-shirt and jeans, do you know they might have depleted tons of clean water, travelled thousands of miles in non-recyclable packaging emitting plenty of CO2? It doesn’t have to be THIS way! To foster sustainable fashion, relevant experts will explore how the fashion industry, one of the most polluting industries, could reduce environmental damage by adopting innovative materials, evoking production ethics, and empowering consumers to make greener choices with technologies that enable supply chain transparency.

To cope with climate crisis, carbon neutrality by 2050 is recognized as the world's most urgent mission. This urgency has drawn the attention of socially responsible investing, known as sustainable finance, that prioritises financial returns alongside environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations. Towards a low-carbon transition, the market has seen an increased array of ESG financial instruments (e.g., sustainability-linked bonds, carbon credit ETF, etc.). What are the developments of the instruments and their potential? Explore the relevant issues with us.

Preventing deliveries of the right products to the right customer at the right place in the right quantity at the right time in the right condition at the right cost, supply chain disruptions caused by unforeseen events (e.g., Suez Canal blockage) or catastrophes (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic) often pose substantial operational and financial consequences. How might companies mitigate the disruption risks with innovative strategies and smart technologies? Corporate leaders from various industries will share their experiences and advice.

As a global hotbed for FinTech startups and scaleups, Hong Kong has seen a talent gap wherein supply for a myriad of skills required for digital transformation is not meeting demand. To prevent talent shortage, what are essential strategic imperatives for corporates? How should individual talents develop relevant core competencies to align with the resulting opportunities for advancement? Leading experts are invited to address these questions.