How prepared is Hong Kong for climate change challenges? asks RICS

Urgent need to make HK a �resilient city’ at heart of coming built environment summit

 

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 26 April 2019 – The RICS (Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors) will take a leading role
in outlining the urgent measures needed to face ever-growing environmental
challenges, with preparing for climate change the central theme of the RICS
Hong Kong Annual Conference, to be hosted at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong on
Friday 24 May 2019.

 

More
than four hundred city leaders, policymakers, academics, and professionals are
expected to gather for the summit, which is subtitled “Resilient and
sustainable: Putting the green revolution at the forefront of our future”.
This theme is a direct response to the growing awareness and risks of
climate-induced catastrophes, and the programme will cover emerging industry
trends — such as green finance, sustainable investment and ESG — while discussing
how Hong Kong can better equip itself as a “Resilient City”.

 

The
programme will begin with an opening address from Guest of Honour Matthew
Cheung Kin-chung, GBM, GBS, JP, the Government of Hong Kong SAR’s Chief
Secretary for Administration. Among the headline speakers and panellists
set to appear across four themed sections are Professor Christine Loh, Chief Development Strategist at Hong Kong
University of Science and Technology; Esther An, Chief Sustainability Officer
at City Developments Limited (CDL); Bryant Lu, Vice Chairman of renowned architects
Ronald Lu & Partners; John Sayer, the Director of Carbon Care Asia and
Research Director of CarbonCare InnoLab; Brian Ho, Partner, Climate Change
& Sustainability Services at EY; and Eric Yau, Chief Strategy Officer at
The Link Asset Management Limited.

 

“In 2018, an estimated US$200 billion was
lost globally due to the effects of extreme weather patterns,” said Ms Clare
Chiu, RICS’ Chief Operating Officer for Greater China. “The devastation
caused by disasters such as Typhoon Mangkhut leaves no doubt that climate
change has become one of the most defining issues of our time.

 

“The
built environment sector has a key part to play in ensuring our city is prepared
for the challenges ahead, and I am confident the programme of the RICS Annual
Conference will help prepare professionals and policymakers, and inspire the
solutions which will ensure a safer, more sustainable city for future generations.”

 

Find out more here: rics.org/hkconf2019

About RICS

Confidence through Professional Standards

 

RICS promotes and enforces the highest
professional qualifications and standards in the development and management of
land, real estate, construction and
infrastructure. Our name promises the consistent delivery of standards —
bringing confidence to the markets we serve.

 

We accredit 125,000 professionals and any individual
or firm registered with RICS is subject to our quality assurance. Their
expertise covers property, asset valuation, real estate management; the
development of infrastructure; and the management of natural resources, such as
mining, farms and woodland. From environmental assessments and building
controls to negotiating land rights in an emerging economy; if our members are
involved the same professional standards and ethics apply.

 

We believe that standards underpin effective markets.
With up to seventy per cent of the world’s wealth bound up in land and real
estate, our sector is vital to economic development, helping to support stable,
sustainable investment and growth around the globe.

 

With offices covering the major political and
financial centres of the world, our market presence means we are ideally placed
to influence policy and embed professional standards. We work at a cross-governmental
level, delivering international standards that will support a safe and vibrant
marketplace in land, real estate, construction and infrastructure, for the
benefit of all.

 

We are proud of our reputation and work hard to
protect it, so clients who work with an RICS professional can have confidence
in the quality and ethics of the services they receive.