- Switch to:
- Introduction
- Agenda
- Speakers
- Speaker Profile
- Register

The 2026 Hong Kong International Nature-based Solutions (NbS) Action Week, also known as "Hong Kong Nature-based Solutions Week", organised by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Civic Exchange, will be held in Hong Kong from June 1-5, 2026.
Now entering its third consecutive year, Hong Kong NbS Week has established itself as a signature international platform for advancing dialogue and action on NbS for climate resilience and sustainable development. The event brings together policymakers, business leaders, academics, and practitioners from Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and the wider region. The 2026 programme will place a strong emphasis on:
- Implementation of NbS projects in urban settings, simultaneously showcasing Hong Kong’s emerging best practices and local cases, while also learning from international NbS experts and exploring opportunities for regional scaling.
- Translating NbS standards and guidelines into on-the-ground action, through integrated land-use planning, climate-resilient infrastructure and conservation project delivery.
- Adopting a whole-of-society approach, and exploring how government, the financial sector, businesses, professional bodies, and civil society can collectively translate policy commitments into investable and scalable on-the-ground action across urban, terrestrial, and coastal environments.
- Supporting the implementation of Hong Kong’s Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP), with a particular focus on mobilising finance and market mechanisms to scale NbS. including sustainable regenerative agriculture and aquaculture, and nature-based tourism.
- Using the Northern Metropolis as a flagship initiative, demonstrating how NbS can be systematically embedded into urban development, works projects, flood management, with regional scale potential.
Participants of this conference will include representatives from the financial sector, business community, professional bodies, academic institutions, environmental organisations, and relevant government departments. The programme will feature international, regional, and local speakers participating in panel discussions and technical sessions focused on landscape planning, policy, finance, and implementation of NbS.
Speakers
-
Alexander (Sandy) Duggie
Managing Director, URBIS Limited
Bio -
Ir Michael Fong
Director of Civil Engineering and Development, Civil Engineering and Development Department, HKSARG
Bio -
Prof. Christine Loh
Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; Former Under Secretary for the Environment
Bio -
Johanna Lovecchio
Director, Impact Programs, Columbia Climate School
Bio
-
Kate Martin
Sustainable Finance Consultant, ADM Capital Foundation
Bio -
Ilana Miller
General Manager, Investment Strategy and Operations at New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment
Bio -
Clare Shakya
Global Managing Director of Climate, The Nature Conservancy
Bio -
Kitty Tam
Programme Lead, Hong Kong 2050 is Now
Bio
More speakers to be announced.
Alexander (Sandy) Duggie
Managing Director, URBIS Limited
Sandy is a Registered Landscape Architect, a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects and the Managing Director of URBIS Limited, a Hong Kong based multi-award-winning design consultancy established in 1977, and providing services in masterplanning, urban design, town planning, landscape design, golf course design and environmental impact analysis. He has lived in Hong Kong and worked for URBIS since 1985, during which time he has contributed to several major territorial and strategic planning studies for the Hong Kong Government, and designed a very large range of private and public sector projects from small private gardens to large scale public infrastructure works. Designed projects include public parks, open spaces and streetscapes, schools, hospitals, hotels, residential, commercial and mixed use development and golf courses. Since 1977 URBIS has undertaken over 2,500 projects throughout the Asia Pacific region, South Asia and the Middle East and has won well over 250 awards and competition designs both locally and internationally. Many of these award-winning projects Sandy has worked on, designed and / or directed personally. He is particularly concerned with the promotion of sustainable design, designing the public realm to meet the needs of modern society and protecting the wonderful landscapes and biodiversity of Hong Kong. He is currently a 2nd Vice Chairperson of BEAM Society Limited, a Director of the Hong Kong Green Building Council, a Member of the HKGBC Green Building Faculty and a Member of Nature and Biodiversity AG (N&B AG) of Business Environment Council. In 2024 and 2025, Sandy was Convenor of the Expert Task Force on Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions that was responsible for drafting the new Chapter 7 ‘Biodiversity and Nature-based Solutions’ in the ‘Climate Change Framework for Built Environment (v.3)’ that was launched on 26 November 2025.
Sandy was the Executive Landscape Architect for Taikoo Square and Taikoo Garden which recently won a Highly Commended Award at the World Architectural Festival in Miami in November 2025.
Ir Michael Fong
Director of Civil Engineering and Development, Civil Engineering and Development Department of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
Ir Michael Fong is currently the Director of Civil Engineering and Development, leading the department in advancing Hong Kong’s new town development and land supply projects, among which are the Northern Metropolis, which serves as a key driver for the social and economic growth of Hong Kong.
Over the past 30 years, Michael has held numerous positions in various work departments, as well as the Development Bureau. He is widely known in the construction industry as a determined champion of construction collaboration, safety, innovation technologies and urban-rural-nature integration.
Prof. Christine Loh
Chief Development Strategist, Institute for the Environment, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Former Under Secretary for the Environment
She was Under Secretary for the Environment in the HKSAR Government (2012-17), Special Consultant to the Chief Executive on the mainland’s ecological civilization policy (2019-20), and a Member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council (1992-97 and 1998-20). She is currently a board member of Global Maritime Forum, New Forests Pty Ltd, and Towngas Smart Energy Company Limited, and is Asia Society’s Scholar in Residence (2023-24). She is also a Steering Committee member of the United Nations International Organization for Migration’s new Climate Mobility Innovation Lab. Loh has been active in public policy and politics since the 1980s. She founded and was the CEO of the non-profit think tank, Civic Exchange (2000-12), and helped to establish several non-profit organizations in Hong Kong related to the environment, equal opportunity, and arts and culture.
Johanna Lovecchio
Director, Impact Programs, Columbia Climate School
She specializes in urban climate adaptation planning and public infrastructure project design that is forward-looking and conscious of community-based and ecosystem resilience. At CRCL, she manages the Resilience Accelerator, which delivers strategic support, technical design and climate systems research, and intensive local workshops to advance resilience project design and implementation in partnership with local governments around the world. Prior to joining CRCL, Johanna worked as a Senior Analyst and Program Manager at HR&A Advisors, where she scaled resilience capacity-building models, developed city- and district-wide climate adaptation plans, and supported the design and evaluation of transformational urban resilience infrastructure investments. As City Planner at the New York City Department of City Planning, she researched planning opportunities in post-industrial, waterfront communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
Kate Martin
Sustainable Finance Consultant, ADM Capital Foundation
Kate is the lead author of the recently published work ‘Blue Finance for a Blue Economy – Pathways to Marine Conservation in Hong Kong’ and is an accomplished sustainable finance specialist with three decades of experience in financial markets. She currently specializes in developing conservation finance structures and advancing blue economy financing. Previously, she established and managed a team responsible for structuring derivatives and hedging solutions at SMBC Capital Markets (Asia), launching several successful and profitable business initiatives across the Asia-Pacific region. At Pacific Risk Advisors, Kate evaluated significant ESG risks and opportunities within supply chains throughout China and Southeast Asia.
Beyond finance, Kate is an adventurer at heart, passionate about the outdoors and inspiring others to explore.
Ilana Miller
General Manager, Investment Strategy and Operations at New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment
Ilana Miller is General Manager, Investment Strategy and Operations at New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment. She led delivery of the NZ$1.2 billion Jobs for Nature programme, considered the biggest single injection of funding and human effort Aotearoa New Zealand has ever directed at nature; investing in nature-based solutions to restore ecosystems, strengthen climate resilience, and support employment during New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery. Her leadership is defined by pace, clear accountability, and an ability to turn complex priorities into action.
She oversees national environmental funding portfolios and has developed long-term investment strategies that align policy, science, and funding to deliver measurable results. Ilana has a practical approach to environmental investment: she brings discipline to what gets funded, why it matters, and how success is measured.
Her career spans senior leadership roles across environment, energy, natural resources, and infrastructure regulation. This experience shapes her work integrating nature-based solutions into public investment systems, supporting co-investment, and ensuring environmental restoration delivers lasting value for communities and the economy.
Clare Shakya
Global Managing Director of Climate, The Nature Conservancy
Clare has more than 30 years of global experience on climate change, energy and natural resource management. Her experience includes seven years at the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) leading the climate group and 15 years with the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) leading first Asia and then Africa Division’s climate change response. Clare has deep experience working with Least Developed Countries and has focused much of her career advancing priorities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Clare received her BSc in environmental science and development studies from University of East Anglia and her MSc in forestry and its relation to land use from Oxford. As global managing director of climate at TNC, Clare leads the Climate team as it executes on TNC’s vision for achieving TNC’s 2030 climate goals. Clare is from the UK and speaks Nepali, Swahili and Spanish.
Kitty Tam
Programme Lead, Hong Kong 2050 is Now
Kitty Tam is the Programme Lead of Hong Kong 2050 is Now. In her role, she aims to influence and encourage societies to adopt rapid, deep, and sustained climate actions, while promoting a nature-positive world. Having a diverse educational background in geography, business management, and environmental governance, Kitty has acquired a comprehensive understanding of the intricate connections between human activities and the natural world. With her previous experience at WWF-Hong Kong, Kitty played a key role in driving policy change to address pressing environmental challenges.
Dong Wang
National Registered Urban Planner & Senior Landscape Architect;
Director-General, Eco-city Design Center | TURENSCAPE;
Deputy Director, NbS innovation center, CALA, Peking University
Dong Wang is a National Registered Urban Planner and Senior Landscape Architect, leading the Eco-city Design Center at TURENSCAPE and serving as Deputy Director of the NbS Innovation Center at Peking University. He specializes in sponge city design, ecological planning, and nature-based solutions, with a portfolio spanning over 100 projects across China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe—including internationally acclaimed works such as Benjakitti Forest Park in Bangkok and Beijing’s Ecological Security Pattern Planning. His practice integrates research, policy input, and ecological design, and has been recognized with major awards including the ASLA Honor Award, WAF Landscape of the Year, and the UIA Award. He is a frequent speaker at international forums and contributes to Chinese ecological restoration standards and publications.
Eva Yeung
Senior Manager of Community Resilience Service, Hong Kong Red Cross
Eva is the Chairperson of the IFRC Asia Pacific Community Resilience Community of Practice, and Steering Committee of the Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group, focusing on research and development relating to community resilience, urban development, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
Eva is enthusiastic about promoting participatory development and community resilience. She has placed special emphasis on enhancing resilience in high-risk areas of Hong Kong by integrating international and local experiences and examining comprehensive strategies for resilient communities. Including introducing working with nature for disaster risk reduction initiatives to mitigate the impact of climate disasters on vulnerable populations.
Registration will open in March 2026. Interested parties who wish to receive registration details are invited to complete the form at https://forms.gle/TUCc4JHtRiNzzBWq6. You will be notified by email once registration becomes available.
For enquiries, please contact the organising team at hkevents@TNC.ORG.