09:15 | Coming Back Together

09:20 | Plenary I: Integrated Water-Related Climate Risks

Cascading Impacts in Urban Systems

Extreme rainfall, surface flooding, coastal inundation and landslides are often managed as separate hazards, yet they can occur together and place simultaneous pressure on urban systems. This session examines how interacting water-related risks can disrupt transport, energy, drainage, communications and essential services, producing cascading consequences for businesses and communities. It will consider what more integrated risk assessment, infrastructure planning and emergency response would require.

Scene-Setting Presentation 

• Prof. Christopher FREY, Futrell Distinguished University Professor, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University

Key themes include:

• Extreme rainfall and storm intensification in tropical and sub-tropical regions

• Flooding, drainage exceedance, and surface water impacts

• Sea-level rise and coastal exposure

• Landslides and slope instability in dense, hilly cities

• Cascading failures across energy, transport, and essential services

Panel Discussion 

• Prof. Christopher FREY, Futrell Distinguished University Professor, College of Engineering, North Carolina State University

    Panellists:

• Ms. Yiki CHENG, Assistant Sustainability Manager, Gammon Construction Limited, Hong Kong
• Ir. Eric CHEUNG, Chief Operating Officer, CLP Power 
• Ir. Dr. Raymond CHEUNG, Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office, Civil Engineering and Development Department, HKSAR Government
• Prof. Ju Neng LIEW, Head of Centre for Tropical Climate Change System (IKLIM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
• Ms. Sandy SONG, Assistant Director (Development, Research and Administration), Hong Kong Observatory, HKSAR Government
• Ms. Esther YUEN, Chief Engineer/Land Drainage, Drainage Services Department, HKSAR Government

11:00 | Plenary II: Integrated Chronic Climate Risks

Heat, Humidity & Air Quality

Heat, humidity and poor air quality are less dramatic than major storms, but their effects are persistent and cumulative. This session examines how chronic climate stresses affect health, labour productivity, energy demand, housing and urban liveability and how their impacts are distributed unevenly across populations. It will also consider why slowly intensifying risks often fail to trigger an emergency response, even when they are already placing systems and communities under considerable strain.

Scene-Setting Presentation 

• Prof. Ollie JAY, Director, Heat and Health Research Centre, University of Sydney, Australia

Key themes include:

• Rising temperatures, urban heat island effects, and uneven exposure

• Interactions between heat, humidity, and air quality

• Impacts on health, labour productivity, and outdoor activity

• Cooling demand and energy system stress

• Why chronic risks rarely trigger “emergency mode”

Panel Discussion

• Prof. Ollie JAY, Director, Heat and Health Research Centre, University of Sydney, Australia

• Prof. Alexis LAU, Head and Chair Professor, Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

• Prof. Thanh NGO-DUC, Co-Director of the LOTUS International Joint Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of Hanoi, Vietnam  

• Prof. Chao REN, Professor, Faculty of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong

• Prof. Jerasorn SANTISIRISOMBOONS, Assistant Professor, RU-CORE, Ramkhamhaeng University, Thailand

• Ms. Eva YEUNG, Senior Manager (Community Resilience), Hong Kong Red Cross

14:00 | Plenary III: From Risk to Cost

Who Pays, When, and for What? Financing Climate Resilience in a World of Limits

As episodic disasters intensify and chronic stresses accumulate, societies face difficult decisions about when to invest, what to protect and how costs and risks should be shared. Not every risk can be insured, not every asset can be defended indefinitely, and delaying adaptation may greatly increase future costs. This session examines how climate impacts are translated into financial decisions, where existing systems of valuation and risk allocation fall short, and how governments, markets and asset owners can make choices under deep uncertainty. 

Scene-Setting Presentation

From Risk to Cost: Translating Climate Impacts into Economic Reality

• Ms. Paula DIPERNA, author of Pricing the Priceless; former President-International, Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)

Key questions:

• Why are sea-level rise and chronic risks harder to price than episodic disasters?

• How does delayed investment increase long-term costs?

• Does traditional cost-benefit logic break down under climate uncertainty?

High-Level Panel Discussion

• Prof. Christine LOH, Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

• Ms. Paula DIPERNA, Author of Pricing the Priceless; former President-International, Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX)
• Dr. Calvin Lee KWAN, Director - Sustainability & Risk Governance, LINK Asset Management
• Mr. Martin NOBLE, Chief Financial Officer, Zurich Insurance (Hong Kong)

15:30 | Closing Reflections

From Hazards to Choices

• Prof. Christine LOH, Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 

This closing synthesis draws together the progression from climate hazards to cascading system stress, financial consequences and societal choices. It will highlight the growing importance of governance and finance and consider what the discussions imply for Hong Kong and other cities in tropical and subtropical regions facing accelerating climate risks.

09:00 | Opening Welcome from HKUST

• Prof. Alexis LAU, Head and Chair Professor, Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
• MC: Dr. Jay Joan MINUTI, Lecturer, Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

09:05 | Opening Keynote

• Dr. Ching Choi LAM, Executive Council of the HKSAR Government, and Chairman of the Council for Carbon Neutrality & Sustainable Development

09:20 | Section 1 - From Design to Delivery: Research and Evidence Needs for Scaling NbS

This session examines what is needed to move NbS from individual demonstration projects towards wider adoption. Researchers, government departments, contractors and asset owners will identify gaps in evidence, technical guidance, standards, approval processes, monitoring and project delivery. The guided discussion will conclude by identifying a short list of priority research and implementation needs.

Convenor: Prof. Alice HUGHES, Professor, University of Melbourne
 

(a) Setting the Scene: What research is needed to make NbS implementable at scale in Hong Kong?

• Dr. Billy HAU, Principal Lecturer and Programme Director, The University of Hong Kong
• Prof. Kenneth LEUNG, Vice-President (Research) and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Health, The City University of Hong Kong
• Prof. Yuhong WANG, Professor, The Polytechnical University of Hong Kong
   

(b) Government Input: What would you like to see for public NbS projects?

• Ir. Joyce LAU, Project Manager (North), Civil Engineering and Development Department, HKSAR Government
• Mr. Antony WAN, Senior Engineer, Drainage Services Department, HKSAR Government
• Mr. Patrick LAI, Deputy Director, Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, HKSAR Government
   

(c) Stakeholder Input: What evidence, design guidance, standards, certification or project support do you need to adopt?

• Mr. Eddie TSE, Group Sustainability Manager, Gammon Construction Limited, Hong Kong
• Mr. Alexander (Sandy) Main DUGGIE, Managing Director, URBIS

10:00 | Interactive guided discussion

Participants will consider the research and technical and institutional gaps identified by the presenters as well as agree on a short list of priority needs.

Convenor’s synthesis: The convenor will summarise the principal research and implementation priorities emerging from the discussion.

11:00 | Break

11:30 | Section 2 - From Value to Nature Financing

NbS can create public, ecological and economic value, but many of their benefits do not generate conventional revenue streams. This session examines what must be measured, valued and verified to support credible financing; which risks and costs should be borne by government, private finance, philanthropy and asset owners; and which financing structures might be workable in Hong Kong. The discussion will identify research needs as well as opportunities for practical pilots.

(a) Setting the Scene: What do we know about financing nature and where are the gaps?

• Prof. Quentin MOREAU, Assistant Professor, Division of Environment and Sustainability, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

(b) What do we need to measure, value and verify to finance nature?

• Mr. André Rodrigues de AQUINO, Lead Environmental Specialist and head of the China-World Bank Group, Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions, Beijing

(c) What roles should government, private finance and philanthropy play (who pays for what and who takes which risks)?

12:00 | Interactive Discussion

Participants will consider which knowledge gaps are most important, what further research is needed and whether there are suitable opportunities for pilot projects or collaborative work.

Convenor’s synthesis: The convenor will identify the priority research questions, institutional needs and potential financing pilots emerging from the discussion.