I was just at the one-day conference in Hong Kong on “When GBA meets ASEAN — One Heart and One Mind”, organized by China Daily and the Hong Kong Coalition. It had the support of many other great and good companies and entities in both Hong Kong and further afield. 

Such broad, local and overseas engagement is an encouraging sign for the robust international collaboration, regulation, compliance and financing that is desperately needed if the serious issues of the main conference theme are to progress. This theme was the empowerment of sustainable development and exploring the green-finance potentials and opportunities for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries.

This is something more of us need to care very deeply about if the dial is to move in the right direction. This is in creating sustainable, net-zero carbon economies where development can no longer be at the expense of everything else. Why? Because every choice we make as individuals, companies, jurisdictions, legislatures and whole countries has an impact, good or bad, on the direction of this dial. This dial is currently pointing strongly to climate collapse at an accelerated rate. We may now enter a phase where events on the ground, in the seas and the air will drive the climate realities faster than human economies and governments can respond. I hope we are not there yet, but it is getting close.

The importance of this special event was underscored by the attendance and introductory keynote speeches by Leung Chun-ying, a vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu. Both gentlemen gave fine presentations that helped set a positive, upbeat tone for the rest of the proceedings.

Leung stressed that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is not just a window or gateway for the world to China, but one of the best neighborhoods in the world and a powerful conduit of green finance and green technology (Hong Kong is the region’s largest green finance hub). He also pointed out that the HKSAR is the second-largest trading partner for ASEAN after the Chinese mainland. I was struck particularly by his phrase about Hong Kong “selling better than producers and buying better than sellers” as a trading hub that accounts for 16 percent of Hong Kong’s GDP, with more than 100,000 trading companies employing more than 400,000 people. Lee, in particular, was forthright in extolling the strengths, virtues and unique features of Hong Kong as a global financial hub under the remarkable “one country, two systems” construct, as well as the opportunities Hong Kong can offer ASEAN countries, the GBA and the whole world. He also stressed the aim for Hong Kong to be at the forefront of green tech and investment, with some direct policy initiatives to support these aims also evident. These included the Digital Bay Area concept and green think-tank map with Hong Kong as a superconnector.

In summary, it is a very worthy endeavor with much to commend it and showing the clear leadership role Hong Kong can play, not just in driving the dial in the right direction, but with the capacity, power and intent to turbocharge the green shoots of technological innovation for a sustainable future for us all

A sustainable, green future is vital. It has to be said in the current climate (pun intended). It has to be an overall mission for the whole planet, not just those living in ASEAN countries and the GBA. However, we can certainly move the dial in the right direction and set a world-leading example of what can be done. Indeed, there were some excellent speeches by relevant experts in finance, governance, politics, technology and industry, including senior panel discussions and even some questions fielded from the floor on how we can practically address these issues. The intent under “one heart and one mind” seemed real.

There was much to absorb with some great technology ideas; I particularly liked the mobile hydroponics farms in converted shipping containers with a shallow carbon footprint that could be set up in dense urban environments. However, it was also clear that some severe challenges remain to effectively implement the grand visions and laudable dreams extolled by these experts and senior sector representatives. The greatest of these challenges is the needed time scales, which are beyond urgent. This key factor was not seriously addressed at this forum.

At one point, a slide was shown that was both important and indicative of the scale of the problems the whole of Southeast Asia confronts regarding moving the dial in a global context. It was a simple graph of billions of metric tons of CO2 produced as a function of time from about the year 2000 till the present day, with separate color-coded trend lines for each country.

Several other subthemes also emerged in support of all the talk and discussions. These were: the critical role that STEM education and training can play in driving innovation and technology, and in generating talent and the cadre of specialists needed across multiple domains to tackle the green imperative; the importance of sincere and robust collaboration across ASEAN jurisdictions with both heart and mind; and the crucial part played by regulation and compliance of industrial and agricultural activities that must be compatible with this green agenda.

In summary, it is a very worthy endeavor with much to commend it and showing the clear leadership role Hong Kong can play, not just in driving the dial in the right direction, but with the capacity, power and intent to turbocharge the green shoots of technological innovation for a sustainable future for us all.

The author is a professor in the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong, the director of its Laboratory for Space Research, and vice-chairman of the Orion Astropreneur Space Academy.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.