Chamber's Spotlight

Introduction of the Green and Circular Economy Committee

What are the scope and the main goal of the Green and Circular Economy Committee?

The Green and Circular Economy Committee (the “Committee”) was created a few months ago on the basis of a collective effort among the members of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and Macao (ICC). The committee aims to facilitate the adoption of sustainability principles in the Hong Kong business community together with the sharing of experiences and best practices towards the circular economy. It also aspires to support the promotion of a post-epidemic green recovery of the economy introduced by the HKSAR Government and the adoption of suitable strategies to support a durable and sustainable economic growth.

In this regard, the main goals of the Committee are to help Italian companies explore sustainable business opportunities in Hong Kong and Macao and act as a bridge with other private institutions to understand the most appropriate steps towards the development of a greener economy. Another key objective is to educate ICC members on the adoption of the Circular Economy and the Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) practices in their business models.

The Committee is determined to achieve these ambitious goals by mapping out initiatives that generate new business opportunities and share knowledge simultaneously. In addition, the Committee aims to add value to ICC members by sharing incentives, innovation projects and educational content related to Sustainability and the Circular Economy proposed by the Government and other institutions.

How can the Committee help corporations focus and understand the importance of practising the green and circular economy?

With rapid economic growth worldwide, the environmental impact is becoming a key driver of our current economic models. Sustainable industries are booming across APAC and with the Hong Kong Government committed to leading Hong Kong to become a green and sustainable city, plenty of opportunities arise. The Committee identified five major objectives to help corporations focus and understand the crucial aspects of sustainability and how the circular economy can support economic recovery.

Firstly, the Committee will update members on the existing and planned incentive schemes initiated by the Government, such as the recently launched funding scheme - Green Tech Fund - conceived to support a sustainable business transition.

Secondly, the Committee will engage with members with a view to scouting the latest technologies, products and services available in the market thus providing different innovative solutions for a sustainable transition.

Thirdly, the Committee will promote networking sessions for members to exchange thoughts and opportunities to meet different institutes, private companies and public entities.

Fourthly, the Committee will work alongside private/public institutes and companies to organize meetings, workshops, aiming to spread knowledge on sustainable matters with a view to raise awareness and understanding about the opportunities in the Green and Circular Economy applicable in the Asia Pacific.

Last but not least, the Committee will strengthen community relations by bringing like-minded enterprises together to create business opportunities related to the Circular Economy principles and practices.

Why do you think it is crucial to accelerate the transition of sustainable business models?

The threat of climate change and environmental issues are conspicuous, including more frequent and intense typhoons, ocean and air pollution, persistent droughts, heatwaves and devastating fires, melting glaciers, just to name a few. We may not be the first generation who is causing climate change, but very likely we are the last generation who is able to mitigate it.

Climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying and the time to effectively react is very limited. Before the opening of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, the UN updated the synthesis of climate actions plans as communicated in countries’ National Determined Contributions (NDCs). The report confirmed that for all available NDCs, the UN anticipated a further increase of about 16% in global GHG emissions in 2030 compared to the one anticipated in 2010. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), if the economic system remains within the same “business as usual” strategy, we may lead to a temperature rise of about 2.7°C by the end of the century.”

The warning is loud. Companies should no longer practice traditional business models as they are a major cause of climate change. It is becoming of paramount importance therefore that the global economy rapidly transitions to sustainable business models to tackle the crisis.

Chairperson: Mr Alessandro Vitale, Chief Executive and General Manager Asia Pacific Hub at Intesa Sanpaolo

Project Lead: Mr Edoardo Francesco Sabatino, Vice President, Sustainable Finance APAC at Intesa Sanpaolo

How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the transition towards a circular economy and how do you think it will evolve in the future?

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates how the global economy is in fact more resilient than we imagined, we managed to adapt to the circumstance effectively. Before the pandemic, work-from-home and online meetings were quite unusual. Nonetheless, very promptly, after the pandemic hit, our communities have seen a very high sense of adaptation to a fully digital working model thus clearly showing a very important element of the resilience of the global economy.

In this regard, the transition towards a more digital economic model could help substantially an early adoption of a circular model to create value for all stakeholders. In fact with the pandemic, a number of organisations are having a great opportunity to embrace these innovative principles and rethink their strategic business model towards a more regenerative way of producing.

Moreover, Circular Economy is being considered as a major pandemic recovery strategy. Companies are learning that adopting a circular model, along with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices can improve their resilience by transforming their supply chain into a regenerative model with reduced dependence on natural resources. In truth, companies that practice circularity fared much better than others during the pandemic also according to civil society. Therefore, we can anticipate in the near future that more companies will be adopting these fundamental practices after the lesson taught by the pandemic.