Prof. Irene LO’s Research Team and Sino Land Join Forces to Achieve Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050

Prof. Irene Lo of HKUST (right) and Mr. David Ng of Sino Group (left) at Sino’s Skyline Tower in Kowloon Bay. [Download Photo]

Prof. Irene LO, Chair Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, is leading a team of researchers, academics and professionals in collaboration with Sino Land Company Limited, in a bid to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to fight climate change.

“Net zero” refers to achieving a balance between the respective amounts of a particular greenhouse gas entering and being removed from the atmosphere. In other words, net-zero carbon emissions mean not releasing more carbon into the atmosphere than can be taken away. The Paris Agreement of 2015 has emphatically underlined the need for net-zero emissions, calling for global action to “achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases” by the second half of the 21st century.

The Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign has been a direct derivative of the Paris Agreement’s call for action. Initiated and developed by the United Nations, the campaign calls on business and industry leaders across the world to set targets to reduce carbon emissions in order to limit global temperature rise to only 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Sino Land has been among Asia’s first real estate developers to sign on to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C pledge, thus reinforcing its commitment toward fulfilling environment, social and governance (ESG) goals beyond those laid out in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs).

Sino Land is partnering with HKUST in this momentous project. Led by Prof. Lo, the HKUST research team will adopt a holistic approach to develop a roadmap toward achieving net-zero carbon by 2050 as well as specific science-based targets to reduce Sino Land’s environmental footprint, decarbonize the built environment, and to ultimately meet the goals set out in the Paris Agreement.

“The collaboration provides us a valuable opportunity to transfer our knowledge of decarbonization and carbon reduction to the building industry and community. It marks a positive step forward to boost sustainable development and tackle the climate change grand challenge,” says Prof. Lo. “We are excited to be working alongside distinguished HKUST academics and young professionals to set targets and roadmaps that continue Sino Group’s vision of ‘Creating Better Lifescapes’,” affirms Mr. David NG, Group Associate Director of Sino Group.

Prof. Irene LO’s Research Team and Sino Land Join Forces to Achieve Net-Zero Carbon Emissions by 2050

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