[SDG Forum Series 2022–23] I buy, therefore I am? — Rethinking Consumption and Sustainable Development

Speakers: Professor Darwin CHOI, Ms. Maria CHEUNG

Moderator: Dr. LI Ming, Kenneth (Lecturer, General Education Foundation Programme, Office of University General Education, CUHK)

Date：17 / 02 / 2023 (Fri)

Time：7:00 – 8:30 p.m. (GMT+8, HKT)

The talk will be conducted via ZOOM. Link will be provided later.

Seminar to be conducted in Cantonese

Brief Description

Responsible and sustainable consumption has been a global concern. It is of prime importance to establish Hong Kong as a sustainable and livable city as it is densely populated and lacks natural resources. However, this often requires stakeholders, including consumers, to take one step further: taking heed of the environmental and social impact of services and products across their life cycle, from product design, production, consumption to waste disposal and recycling. Such considerations are no different from those supporting ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives in the financial market. To this end, are we willing to look beyond short-term economic and financial benefits to support ESG? Are there things that the industries and government can do to accelerate the society’s efforts and lessen its burden?

In this SDG Forum, Prof. CHOI will share his views on how financial market responds to ESG initiatives and the economic considerations of sustainable consumption. Ms. CHEUNG will focus on young people’s perception (and misperception) on responsible consumption by sharing the results of the survey of secondary students’ habits of sustainable consumption conducted by the Fair Trade Hong Kong Foundation last year. She will also analyze how their level of awareness and misperception affect the consumption behaviour of the students.

This talk is highly relevant to a number of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular, SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).

About the Speakers

Professor Darwin CHOI is an Associate Professor in the Department of Finance and Associate Director of the Centre for Business Sustainability at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Before joining CUHK in 2016, he was an Assistant Professor of Finance at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He received his PhD degree in Finance from Yale University and BS in Economics and BS in Engineering degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Darwin’s research examines how institutional details and behavioural factors influence professional and individual investors’ capital allocations and asset prices. His recent work focuses on climate finance and other ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) issues. Darwin’s papers have been published in the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, and Review of Financial Studies. He has won teaching awards at both CUHK Business School and HKUST Business School.

Before starting her tenure as Chief Executive at Fair Trade Hong Kong Foundation in 2020, Ms. Maria CHEUNG had worked in several publicly listed companies for almost three decades, taking up various roles including image building and employer branding, advertising and promotions, mega events management, stakeholder engagement, media and investor relations, issue and crisis management, sustainability, central administration, as well as establishing a number of corporate volunteer teams and charity foundations.

Ms. Cheung is currently the Agency for Volunteer Service’s Fundraising and Promotion Committee member, Director of the Regeneration Charity Foundation, Vetting Committee member of the JC InnoPower: Fellowship for Social Workers, and an Executive Committee member of Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals’ Association (PRPA).  Ms. Cheung was the President of PRPA in 2012–2015.

Enquiry：sdg-ouge@cuhk.edu.hk

Online reservation：https://cloud.itsc.cuhk.edu.hk/webform/view.php?id=13661521

Co-organized by Office of University General Education, CUHK and SDSN Hong Kong