Speakers

Aziz Abdukhakimov is the Adviser to the President of Uzbekistan on Environmental Issues and Chairman of the National Committee on Ecology and Climate Change. He has more than five years of experience in business management, investment protection, and government relationships in Uzbekistan and CIS countries.

Khuloud Hasan Al Nuwais serves as Chief Sustainability Officer at the Emirates Foundation and Secretary General of the ne'ma National Steering Committee, leading UAE initiatives focused on food loss and waste reduction. She also played a key role in establishing the Emirates Foundation in 2005.

Ban Ki-moon is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade between 2004 and 2006.

HRH Princess Esmeralda of Belgium is a journalist, documentary producer, author, activist, and environmental and human rights campaigner, especially for the rights of women and indigenous peoples. She is the President of the Leopold III Fund for Nature Exploration and Conservation and Chair of Friendship Belgium.

Irina Bokova served two terms as Director-General of UNESCO (2009–2017), becoming the first woman and the first Eastern European to lead the organization. She currently serves as Honorary President of the World Olymp’Arts Council.

Paul Chan Mo-po is a Hong Kong politician and certified public accountant who has served as Financial Secretary of Hong Kong since 2017. A former President of the HKICPA, he served in the Legislative Council and as Secretary for Development before directing the city's fiscal strategy.

Teresa CHENG Yeuk-Wah is the Secretary-General of the International Organization for Mediation. She has vast experience in dispute resolution and has been involved in complex international commercial and international investment cases as counsel, arbitrator and mediator.

Vivian Cheung was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Airport Authority Hong Kong in April 2025. She is the Director of the Aviation Security Company Limited Board and an Independent Non-executive Director of the Board of Hong kong International Theme Parks Limited.

Joy Lo Cheung serves as Chairwoman of the Lo Kwee Seong Foundation. She joined the foundation in 2019 as Chair of Donations and was appointed Chairwoman in 2025. She guides the foundation's strategic philanthropy across scientific research, biomedical sciences, soybean genomics, higher education, arts and culture, and social impact initiatives.

Kevin Choi serves as Permanent Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. He drives Hong Kong's innovation and technology strategy, digital economy policies, and integration into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Alfred Chuang is a Co-Founder and General Partner at Race Capital. He was the co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of BEA Systems, which he led from inception to its initial public offering and acquisition by Oracle. He holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Davis.

Elliott Donnelley II is the Vice Chair of Synergos and a Founding General Partner of the White Sand Investor Group, LP, a fifth-generation investment partnership of the Chicago-based RR Donnelley family. He is also a founder of KD Venture Partners, a seed-stage Impact and InvestTech investment company based in Silicon Valley.

Monika Froehler is the CEO and Board Member of the Ban Ki-moon Foundation, a quasi-international organization that empowers women and youth to become global citizens and leaders for a sustainable future. She is also serving on several Boards including the Board of the ENLIGHT university network and the Advisory Board of VCDNP.

Dr. Arunabha Ghosh is the Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, having led the institution from 2010 to 2026 into one of Asia’s premier climate policy think tanks. He was also a founding board member of the Clean Energy Access Network.

Andrew Yu Han has worked in various senior leadership positions across origination, risk, legal, and special asset management functions in banking, asset management, pension funds, and private legal practice in Australia, Hong Kong, the UK, and South Korea. Currently, he serves as a Senior Investment Specialist in the Private Sector Facility of the Green Climate Fund.

Runqiu Huang serves as the Minister of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China. He has a PhD in Engineering and previously served as President of the UN Biodiversity Conference. He is also the Executive Vice Chairperson of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development.

Vuk Jeremić is the President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), a global public policy think tank and a Co-Founder of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative. He was elected President of the 67th UN General Assembly in 2012.

Peiran Jing is the Chief Strategy Officer at Jinpan Technology, serving as Head of Strategic Investment and a board director of JST Global Energy Group, where she leads investment strategy and international expansion across the Asia‑Pacific region.

Kenny is Vice-Chair, Asia Pacific Council of The Nature Conservancy, Co-Chairman and Co-Founder of Melo Foundation and KainoQ Capital, a private investment firm seeding founders of innovations in Asia. He is also currently a Board Member of Two Sigma Asia.

John Lee Ka-chiu is the sixth Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, taking office on 1 July 2022. He began his career in the Hong Kong Police Force in 1977 and later served as Secretary for Security and Chief Secretary for Administration before his election.

Laura Lee is the CEO of the Asia Climate Philanthropy Advisory, the first Asia-led platform dedicated to mobilizing philanthropic capital to drive climate solutions across the region. She has held senior leadership roles with The Fred Hollows Foundation, Médecins Sans Frontières, UNHCR, and Credit Suisse.

Chun-ying Leung serves as Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. He previously served as the 3rd Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 2012 to 2017.

Xueliang Liu serves as the VP of BYD Co.,Ltd., GM of BYD Asia-Pacific Auto Sales Division. Having joined BYD in 2004, he spearheaded the company's early expansion into Japan and has since overseen its strategic commercial growth, electric vehicle market entry, and brand footprint across the Asia-Pacific region.

Poman Lo is the founder of One Earth Initiatives and Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Regal Hotels Group. She is also Adjunct Professor at The University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Sze Ping Lo is a program director at Sequoia Climate Foundation, where he leads the organization’s grantmaking portfolios for China and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining Sequoia, he was CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) in China.

Dr. Christine Loh serves as Chief Development Strategist at the Institute for the Environment, HKUST. She previously served as Undersecretary for the Environment in the HKSAR Government (2012–2017) and as a Member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong.

Leading CDP, the global non-profit that runs the world’s largest independent environmental disclosure system, Sherry Madera is pioneering a new age of Earth-positive economics, a model that places sustainability at the heart of value creation.

Dr. Youssef Nassef serves as Director of the Adaptation Division at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Secretariat. He is also the founder of the UNFCCC’s Resilience Frontiers initiative. He holds a Ph.D. in International Technology Policy and Management.

Boon Heong Ng is the Executive Director & CEO of Temasek Foundation, a philanthropic organisation under Temasek that spearheads programmes topilot different innovative solutions and models to deliver impact for planet, people, peace and progress in Asia, including Singapore.

Liang Pan serves as Chief Sustainability Expert at BYD Company Limited, leading BYD’s global corporate sustainability strategy, ESG initiatives, and cross-border environmental partnerships.

Lisa Sachs is the Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. She is a globally recognized expert and leading voice on climate finance, sustainable investment, natural resource governance, and how laws, policies, and financial architecture shape global investment flows in support of development and climate objectives.

Professor Harry Shum is Council Chairman of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is a renowned computer scientist and business leader, with expertise in artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning and robotics.

Lutfey Siddiqi is a Visiting Professor-in-Practice at the LSE and Political Science and an Adjunct Professor at the NUS. From September 2024 to February 2026, he served as Special Envoy of the head of Bangladesh’s interim government with rank-equivalent of cabinet minister, leading initiatives in economic diplomacy, trade & investment, and labour reforms.

Dr. Alex Tang Liyang is a Regional Advisor on Green Finance in the Macroeconomic Policy and Financing for Development Division at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. He provides policy advice, capacity development, and technical assistance on sustainable, green, and transition finance frameworks to ministries of finance/economy/planning, central banks, and financial regulators across the Asia-Pacific region.

Jean-Pascal Tricoire serves as Chairman of the Board of Schneider Electric, transforming Schneider into a global leader in digital energy management, automation, and sustainability. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Qualcomm and holds advisory roles with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Chavalit Frederick Tsao serves as Chairman of Tsao Pao Chee Group, a private family enterprise with roots tracing back over 120 years to the Qing Dynasty. As a fourth-generation steward, he transformed the group's legacy maritime and industrial holdings into a purpose-led organization spanning shipping, real estate, investment, and holistic well-being ventures.

Professor Bhaskar Vira serves as Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Environmental Sustainability. He is also Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Geography, Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, an Honorary Fellow of St John's College, and Head of Program for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program.

Terry Wong serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, driving Hong Kong’s innovation and overseeing the park’s expansion across the Greater Bay Area. He holds an MBA from CUHK, and an MSc in Global Finance jointly awarded by NYU Stern and HKUST.

Lixue Xia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Infinigence AI, a leading Chinese AI-infrastructure company. Under his leadership, Infinigence AI has helped develop China’s first “computing-power ecosystem supermarket,” the Mosu Space computing platform, which brings together more than 300 AI enterprises. He also has a PhD in Electronic Engineering from Tsinghua University.

Zhiqiang Xu serves as Managing Director and Head of China at Power Corporation of Canada. He leads the group’s strategic investment initiatives and long-term asset management activities in China and brings extensive experience in cross-border private equity, asset management, and corporate strategy.

Professor Bin Yang is a Professor of Business Administration, Ph.D in Management Science. He is Vice-Chairman of China National Engineering Education Supervisory Committee, and Sectary-General of China National MBA Education Supervisory Committee.

Arthur Yuen is in charge of the full range of banking policy, supervision, conduct, and enforcement issues at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. He joined the HKMA in 1996 as Head of Administration and has since taken up different responsibilities. He was appointed to his present position in 2010.

Efim Zelmanov is a Fields Medalist and Chair Professor at the Southern University of Science and Technology, where he also serves as the Director of the International Center for Mathematics. He is also a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Science.

Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang is Chair Professor of AI Science at Tsinghua University and Founding Dean of the Institute for AI Industry Research of Tsinghua University. He was the President of Baidu Inc. from 2014 to 2019. Prior to Baidu, Dr. Zhang was a Microsoft executive for 16 years with different key positions.