The seminar aims to launch the “Fair Winds Charter” report, which documents Civic Exchange and other key stakeholders’ 10-year effort to tackle the problems of ship emissions and air pollution in Hong Kong. The charter, a voluntary initiative led by the shipping industry requiring ocean-going vessels to switch to a less polluting fuel while at berth, was the first of its kind in Asia and a landmark achievement. An eminent panel of speakers discussed the next steps for ship-emission reduction in Hong Kong and around the Greater Bay Area to further improve air quality in the region.
Date: Wednesday, 19 September 2018
Time: 5:00-6:30 p.m. (Registration: 4:45 p.m.)
Venue: GLG Conference Room , 9th Floor, St. George’s Building, 2 Ice House Street, Central, Hong Kong
Agenda
Introduction (5:00-5:05 p.m.)
- The Fair Winds Charter report by Mr Simon Ng, Civic Exchange Fellow and report author
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| Panel Discussion Part 1 (5:05-5:40 p.m.)
The Success Story of the Fair Winds Charter: How Civic Exchange Influenced Policymaking to Reduce Ship Emissions in Hong Kong
Major key players from academia, the shipping industry and the government will explain how they worked together to create the Fair Winds Charter and improve air quality in Hong Kong.
The panel will be moderated by Mr Evan Auyang, Civic Exchange Board Chairman.
Panel speakers include:
- Mr Arthur Bowring, former Managing Director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association
- Prof Alexis Lau, Professor of the Division of Environment and Sustainability at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
- Dr Peter Louie, Senior Environmental Protection Officer of the Environmental Protection Department
- Mr Simon Ng, Civic Exchange Fellow and author of the Fair Winds Charter report
- Mr Roger Tupper, former Director of Marine
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| Panel Discussion Part 2 (5:40-6:10 p.m.)
The Way Forward for Cutting Ship Emissions and Improving Air Quality in Hong Kong
From 1 January 2019 onwards, vessels trading within the Pearl River Delta Domestic Emission Control Areas (DECA) are required to run on low-sulphur fuel with the sulphur content not exceeding 0.5 percent. This policy change has come about partly as a result of the successful implementation of the Fair Winds Charter. The panel will discuss topics including:
- How can the success of Hong Kong’s lead on cutting ship emissions be replicated regionally? What can other cities learn from Hong Kong’s experience?
- What more can researchers, the government and the shipping industry do to further cut down ship emissions in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD)?
- How can the various stakeholders work together to ensure greater cross-border cooperation to further improve air quality in Hong Kong and the PRD?
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| Q&A Session (6:10-6:25 p.m.)
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Wrap-Up & Closing Remarks (6:25-6:30 p.m.)
- Ms Winnie Cheung, CEO of Civic Exchange
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Speakers
 Mr Evan Auyang is Civic Exchange’s Board Chairman and Managing Director and Head of Asia-Pacific for Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG).
Prior to joining GLG, he was the Deputy Managing Director of the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) and a Board Director of Transport International Holdings Limited, the parent company of KMB. Previously, he was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company and also worked at Citigroup.
He is extensively involved with civic work, chambers and nongovernmental organisations. He serves as a Board Member of the American Chamber of Commerce, an Executive Committee Membeer of the Young Presidents’ Organization, and an Adviser of the Independent Commission Against Corruption. |
 Mr Arthur Bowring is a Maritime and Commercial Consultant and Advisor. Previously, he served as Managing Director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association for two decades and is a highly respected and well-known figure in the industry. He is also a Maritime Arbitrator and Mediator.
Mr Bowring has a broad shipping and commercial background, which includes several years at sea as a deck officer, working as a ship surveyor for Lloyds Register, and acting as an oil and dry cargo chartering and owning broker and freight trader for a major international trading house, handling marine insurance placing and claims.
He is Council Member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, Convenor of the Hong Kong Maritime Arbitration Group, and Fellow of several professional institutions. He has received many industry awards and was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Hong Kong SAR Government. |
 Ms Winnie CW Cheung is Civic Exchange’s Chief Executive Officer. She has decades of experience in executive leadership and public policymaking, as well as a strong interest in wellbeing and sustainability issues.
Previously, she was CEO of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), serving as an adviser to the government, legislators and other top-level decision makers. She is a pioneer in Hong Kong’s corporate governance and sustainability developments.
Ms Cheung pursued a second career as a psychotherapist with the goal of helping others live a better life following her retirement from HKICPA.
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 Prof Alexis Lau is Professor of the Division of Environment and Sustainability, Director of the Atmospheric Research Centre, and Associate Director of the Institute for the Environment at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
A well-known air-quality expert, he has been leading and managing more than 60 research projects since 2000 with grants exceeding HK$140 million, including a real-time weather and air-quality prediction system at HKUST that began in 1997. His research has been regularly adopted by local and regional governments, including for air-quality studies before the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou as well as for Hong Kong’s Clean Air Plan in 2013.
He serves on the Advisory Panel on Review of Air-Quality Objectives, the Air Pollution Control Appeal Board, the Strategy Sub-committee and the Support Group on Better Air Quality for the Council on Sustainable Development. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Group of the World Health Organization Panel on the development of a Global Platform on Air Quality and Health. |
 Dr Peter Louie is Senior Environmental Protection Officer responsible for marine policy and control at the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. He was appointed a member of the expert air-quality panel in support of the hosting of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
Prior to joining the government in 1996, Dr Louie worked as a research associate at the Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota. He participated in the World Health Organization’s Global Platform on Air Quality and Health in 2015 and the development of low-cost sensors for air-quality monitoring in support of citizen-science applications in 2017. He is a guest professor at Peking University. |
 Mr Simon Ng is a Civic Exchange Fellow and author of the Fair Winds Charter report. He has more than 20 years of experience in academic and policy research, project management and stakeholder engagement on mainly air quality, urban transportation, walkability and sustainability issues.
He has conducted groundbreaking research on ship emissions inventory in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta and collaborated with the shipping industry that led to the creation of the Fair Winds Charter.
Mr Ng has also been serving as an expert member of the United Nations Centre for Regional Development Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia since 2006. He and Robert Gottlieb co-wrote the book Global Cities: Urban Environments in Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and China (The MIT Press, 2017). |
 Mr Roger Freeman Tupper was Director of Marine from 2006 to 2011 before he retired. He began his career in 1968 as a navigating cadet and officer with Shell Tankers (UK) Ltd and Inchcape Shipping before joining the Hong Kong government as a Marine Officer in 1980.
He rose through the ranks over three decades to become Assistant Director of Marine in 1996 and Deputy Director of Marine in 2002 before being promoted to the top post. He led the drafting of the Local Vessels Ordinance and served in various posts responsible for pollution control, vessel traffic management, and port development.
He was appointed a Justice of the Peace in 1998 and was awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star in 2012. |
An eminent panel of speakers discussed the landmark achievement of the Fair Winds Charter, a 10-year effort that led to ship-emission reduction and cleaner air in Hong Kong.
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