GreenTech Summit: Hong Kong must surmount skills gap, lack of collaboration to reach full decarbonisation potential
- To develop greentech and pursue sustainability goals, city needs to bring together partners across the supply chain: summit speakers
- Effective use of green technology in transport and construction is not simply a matter of ‘bringing the kit in’, but demands skills development, speakers say
Green technology is crucial for decarbonising the transport and construction industries, but its adoption in Hong Kong faces challenges including a skills gap and the development of a sustainable ecosystem, according to experts at the Hong Kong GreenTech Summit 2024.
“We need a very healthy ecosystem that can draw partners together, because we need to see a green supply chain with an up-, mid- and downstream,” Lee said. “When you scale [greentech] up, it has to be economical. We need all the different partners to play a role and come to a solutions-based outcome … from policymaking to new materials introduced and how economical the solution is. The solution needs to be financially viable.”
Policy support is also needed to aid the development of green technology, as it can help speed up adoption, Lee added.
Collaboration across industries and among different stakeholders is required to create an ecosystem that allows new green technology to become integrated into processes and therefore succeed, Michael Long, group head of sustainability at New World Development, said during a panel on buildings and construction.
“One of the big challenges we have around greentech is that the thinking and the technology has advanced very quickly, but the practitioners who are expected to be using and selling these materials in their products … their skill sets are still only emerging in these spaces,” Long said.
