The Smart City research cluster of CityU’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) organised a virtual conference titled “Carbon Neutralisation and Industrial Transformation in the Era of Digital Economy: Challenges and Opportunities” on 19 June 2021. 

Reaching carbon neutrality is a demanding goal that requires the use of any and all good measures available. There is no single magic-bullet solution to achieving carbon neutrality. Every responsible player in the industry must take a long, hard look at themselves and come up with a solution that works best for them. The role of financial institutions such as the World Bank and Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), etc, including managing trust funds linked to carbon trading measures, need to be redefined and analysed.

The conference was set out to answer questions of whether the traditional energy industry will decline faster, how will the renewable energy industry rise, whether the technology industry will shape the green transformation, and if the development of the digital economy and “new forms of business” can boost the carbon neutral transformation. It also evaluated the responses of the power industry as the first compliance cycle of Mainland China’s carbon emission trading scheme has officially started, and how enterprises can strike a balance between the environment and development. 

Twelve speakers from Mainland China and Hong Kong, including Professor ZHANG Xiaoling, Convenor of CLASS’ Smart City research cluster and Professor of Public Policy, participated in the event funded by the cluster and National Natural Science Foundation of China. The list of invitees consisted of scholars from different disciplines of academia, industry practitioners, and experts from financial institutions, allowing broader perspectives to be heard.