3 7. The climate and sustainability transition must be relatable to people. The government is responsible for identifying vulnerable locations and vulnerable groups, as well as to continue to refine Hong Kong’s early warning systems and emergency response plans to reduce extreme weather risks. The government must also work with districts and NGOs to raise public awareness to climate risks, and to engage the community in strengthening preparedness. 8. The ‘greening’ of finance requires a better understanding of physical climate risks, and how these risks could be translated into specific financial value for the city in a credible way. While this is a challenging task, it offers significant opportunities to strengthen Hong Kong’s ability to provide international professional services and be a leading finance centre in the climate and sustainability transition era. 9. Training talent for the climate and sustainability era benefits the whole economy, not just financial services, as the relevant knowledge is needed for the transformation of all activities in the public and private sectors. 10. Policymakers have yet to fully embrace ways in which I&T can be applied to deliver in multiple modes, such as the merging of Green-Climate-Prop-FinTech through digitalisation. That said, Hong Kong’s public and private sectors are already major investors in climate and environmentally related I&T, where Hong Kong is a leader in some areas. 11. The climate and transition era will be global providing the opportunity for Hong Kong’s work on climate adaptation and I&T to strengthen its overall Brand by developing appropriate narratives. 12. Hong Kong needs to communicate and engage more effectively with stakeholders for its efforts to be understood and appreciated. The HKSAR Government has considerable support from academia, professionals, corporates, and NGOs working on the climate and sustainability transition. Engagement between the government and stakeholders through well-design-andcurated deliberations can be mutually rewarding. III: Based on Presentations by Bureaux and Departments Observations 1. Hong Kong’s public sector has strong climate science and engineering skills developed to deal with risks arising from its hilly topography, subtropical climate, and exposure to typhoons. Its techniques and management methods represent a valuable body of tested solutions. 2. The public seldom see or hear about government work in an integrated, cross-disciplinary manner. The extent of government work is impressive and interesting - more publicity can help to generate public buy-in if properly narrated and presented. 3. Seeing and hearing government work across Bureaux and Departments enables the identification of gaps and tradeoffs that need further articulation and deliberation. 4. The government is a major investor in climate and sustainability related I&T that could be properly narrated and presented for both mitigation and adaptation. 5. Young people are clearly interested in climate and sustainability. They expressed an interest to be involved, which presents opportunities for the HKSAR Government to respond although they did not say how they thought they could be engaged. Recommendations A. Hong Kong’s government leaders tend to focus on branding its economic prowess in financial services, tourism, trading and logistics, and professional and producer services. Hong Kong’s capabilities in climate solutions can be developed into a new narrative of economic, professional, finance and I&T strengths to suit the current era. Observations and Recommendations
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