Conversation for Collaboration: Becoming Net Zero Heroes – Speaker Biographies

Mr. Stephen Lai is Senior Vice President and Director of Operations overseeing AECOM’s operations in Hong Kong. He has over 30 years of experience in delivering major multidisciplinary urban development and infrastructure projects for the Hong Kong government as client, covering areas of investigation management, design, construction management and contract administration.

Stephen’s diverse portfolio of Hong Kong projects include Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link; various new town developments such as New Development Areas in Northern Metropolis, Central Wan Chai Development, Kai Tak Development, Tseung Kwan O New Town Development; Tseung Kwan O-Lam Tin Tunnel, Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, Lai Chi Kok Drainage Tunnel and Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS) Stage 2, among many others.

With his vast experience in project delivery and operations, Stephen is also heading the Asia Internal ESG initiative of AECOM and leading the business development in GBA by leveraging our resources, capability and experience development in Hong Kong.

Mr. Keith Howells is the 158^th President of the ICE.

Having graduated in civil engineering in 1974, Keith joined one of the founder members of the Mott MacDonald Group and spent the first 10 years of his career in infrastructure design and project management, mostly in the water and transport sectors. On completing an MBA in 1986, he became involved with the planning, feasibility, and financial and economic analysis of projects, principally in the water and environmental sectors. Over the next decade he worked on numerous projects funded by the international finance institutions as well as by UK government bodies.

Keith has built career long experience in the planning, study and design of hydraulic structures, hydropower, urban drainage, sewerage, water supply and river engineering schemes. He has worked in numerous countries as well as in the UK. He ran the firm’s Water and Environment business from 1997 to 2002, before becoming the Group Managing Director in 2004, directing the firm’s expansion in North America and Australasia. Keith became Chair of the Group’s Executive Board in 2011, responsible to shareholders for the performance of the company and its strategic direction – a role he continued until mid-2019.

Keith was on the board of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering from 2011 to 2015, and its Chair in 2013; he was a member of the CBI’s Construction Council from 2013 to 2019; and a member of the Cranfield School of Management Advisory Board from 2012 to 2020. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a Fellow of the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Dr. Thomas Tang has over 30 years’ experience in sustainability consulting. He is a practitioner in ESG, climate risk, decarbonization, urban design, stakeholder engagement and social impact. He is an Executive Director with AECOM based in Hong Kong where he is working on projects in the Northern Metropolis.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a Fellow of the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment and a former Urban Scholar for UN’s Global Compact Cities Programme. Dr. Tang is also an Adjunct Professor for the City University of Hong Kong where he lectures on ESG and sustainability

Mr. C. F. Wong is currently the Commissioner for Climate Change in the Environment and Ecology Bureau of HKSARG. He was an Assistant Director of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) before joining the Bureau. Throughout his service with EPD, Mr. Wong had taken up a wide range of responsibilities, including international collaboration, development of environmental infrastructures, environmental impact assessment, waste reduction and law enforcement.

Dr. Katherine Ibbotson, FICE, is the net zero carbon programme manager for Infrastructure within the Environment Agency and as the chair of Workstream 1 for ICE’s Carbon Project. Her passion and career focuses on carbon reduction within infrastructure, having championed carbon reduction within project delivery, whole-life carbon quantification, alignment to cost estimating, as well as benchmarking and improved standards. She provides leadership within Transformation Advisory Net Zero team at WSP in the UK. With over 10 years’ experience in leading carbon reduction strategies and Net Zero services within infrastructure, Kat’s Net Zero experience is routed in bridging the gap between policy and embedding practical action. Having worked within the Public Sector for over 17 years before moving into consultancy. Kat has supported clients across several sectors, delivering a variety of services from: Net Zero road mapping, target setting and quantification, whole life carbon management, assurance, and review. Taking an evidence-based approach to influence and shape future policy. Kat’s experience is supported by a broad skill set in program, project management and commercial services. She has also spearheaded UK industry alignment of cost and carbon services within public sector and continues to lead the way in building this capability into business-as-usual activity.

Chris is a Chartered Environmentalist and Fellow of IEMA and the ICRS. He is an Associate Director at AECOM specialising in Whole Life Carbon Management.

He was part of ICE President Paul Sheffield’s Future Leader programme, is a member of the Carbon Champions Review Panel, and was a member of the Technical Advisory Panel for PAS 2080.

Chris is currently undertaking a PhD in Carbon Responsibility with Francesco Pomponi and Bernardino D’Amico of Edinburgh Napier to ensure consistency, clarity and commonality of carbon management within the Infrastructure Value Chain.

Dr. Thilakaratne is an academic and a RIBA Chartered member specialized in environmental sustainability with over 20 years international experience. In 2018, she received the Royal Institute of British Architects Fellow title in recognition of her contribution to academia, research, and the practice. She is a LEED AP, WELL AP, UK Energy Institute Certified Carbon Auditor, and a BEAM Professional. Ruffina has held senior positions at large international architecture consultancies and has engaged in large scale mixed-use development projects, healthcare and education, science & technology projects.

Her research focuses on climate conscious and resilient urban design, architecture and well-being, and building performance optimization. She was a finalist in Hong Kong Green Building awards 2016 research and planning category and has won several other design awards. She has Chaired number of international conferences that include Modular Construction Conference 2014, Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2016 and Resilient Cities Conference 2017. She is the Co-Chief Editor of the book titles “Architects on Climate Action – Response to UN Sustainable Development Goals”.

As the current Hon. Chair of Royal Institute of British Architects Hong Kong Chapter, Ruffina serves over 1000 British architects in Hong Kong. Her leadership and initiatives have led to increased synergy between professionals, professional bodies and academia, increased memberships and contribution to local community.
She extends her passion and expertise through her roles as a Green Building faculty at Hong Kong Green Building Council and her active engagement in Environment & Sustainable Development Committee at the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, and Architectural Science Association Australia & New Zealand.

Mr. Freeman Cheung is the regional executive responsible for AECOM’s environmental management practice in Hong Kong and Japan, serving both public and private sector clients. Mr. Cheung has provided strategic advice to investors and decision makers to formulate environmental management practice for more than 30 years to improve their operations and is an in-house ESG advisor for AECOM’s Asia operation. 

Mr. Cheung is currently leading the AQO Review 2030 Study and has a lot of experience in air quality management programs for the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, including the first Green House Gas Emission Control Study in 2000. He also serves as the Chairman of Hong Kong Institute of Qualified Environmental Professionals, Advisory Committee on Environmental Science for the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and School of Energy and Environment Advisory Committee for the City University of Hong Kong.