New World Development : 1.5°C Summit 2022 gathers over 500 industry players to tackle climate change through tech

The 1.5°C Summit - The Defining Decade for Impact with Tech, one of the opening events of Hong Kong's annual StartmeupHK Festival, concluded today with a clear consensus that disruptive technology is key in this defining decade to driving cities like Hong Kong to mitigate climate change and build a more sustainable future. Organised by Eureka Nova, New World Development's open innovation platform, the second edition of the annual 1.5°C Summit hosted 50 industry experts, entrepreneurs, policymakers and business leaders across 10 panel discussions, showcased 28 booths of startup innovations in climate tech, and attracted over 500 online and offline registrations from Hong Kong and abroad.

As one of the featured events at the StartmeupHK Festival for the second year in a row, the one-day hybrid 1.5°C Summit kicked off the Festival as the focal point for critical discussions on climate change and sustainability. Forging Hong Kong's pathway to carbon neutrality by 2050, the 1.5°C Summit revolved around the critical actions towards drastic emissions reduction within this defining decade, through net-zero innovation, energy-saving technologies in green buildings, greener transport solutions and reimagining waste reduction. The 1.5°C Summit takes inspiration from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations as it repeatedly underlines that, taking action now towards the global warming limit of 1.5°C would reduce the odds of initiating the most dangerous and irreversible effects of climate change.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Charles Ng, Associate Director-General of Investment Promotion, InvestHK said, "This Summit showcases not only Hong Kong's unique role as a bridge for innovative companies to access the Mainland and Asian markets, but also highlights that the development of green and sustainable finance in Hong Kong offers many promising prospects. By leveraging our advantages as an international financial centre, we can facilitate matching between international capital and quality green projects, as well as propelling Hong Kong towards our carbon neutrality target by 2050 and promoting green transformation of our economy. It also provides an essential platform for investor matching and startup services, while bringing together entrepreneurs, investors and corporates to drive real impact and growth within the sector."

In the opening keynote speech, Mr Ben Wong, Head of Open Innovation, Eureka Nova, New World Development, said, "Leveraging the Summit panel discussions, we aim to provide a platform to inspire actionable takeaways for businesses and individuals and create meaningful opportunities for different stakeholders, such as corporates and startups, to come together to develop actionable plans. In the future, Eureka Nova will continue to accelerate impact-driven innovation, startup incubation and commercialisation success within the New World Ecosystem and partners. We will also work in tandem with other corporate partners and stakeholders to empower technology in addressing climate change and create synergy for the sustainability ecosystem."

At the opening ceremony, the Star Startups Panel drew inspiration from startup entrepreneurs Mr Chris Anderson of Vantem Global Inc., Mr Anthony Stewart of Ampd Energy, Mr Kenneth Chung of Avant Meats, Dr Entela Benz of Intensel, and Ms Chung Sum Yue Natalie of HKSAR Government Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee who shared their journey on leveraging disruptive technologies to ease the climate crisis and the impact they are bringing to the world.

The 1.5°C Summit, convening physically at K11 ATELIER King's Road with live streaming, forges a concerted effort in the community to create a sustainable future and augments New World Group's commitment to lead the industry's evolution to genuine sustainability through the New World Sustainability Vision 2030 ("SV2030"), which references the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and our business priorities to curate a customer experience based on the four pillars: Green, Wellness, Smart and Caring. SV2030, initiated in 2018, set a green target to halve the Group's environmental impact in energy and carbon emissions intensity against baseline year FY2015. In June, New World Development became the third real estate developer in Asia to receive the Science Based Targets initiative's (SBTi) approval of its near-term 1.5°C aligned science-based targets (SBTs) and commit to the SBTi Net-Zero Standard, a testament to its long-term commitment in reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

For more information about the 1.5°C Summit, please visit: https://onepointfivesummit.com/.