Speech by STL at IATA World Sustainability Symposium
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Mr Walsh (Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Mr Willie Walsh), Patrick (Chair of Cathay Group, Mr Patrick Healy), Ronald (Chief Executive Officer of Cathay Group, Mr Ronald Lam), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,
A warm welcome and good morning to you all. For friends from afar, welcome to Hong Kong. It is my great honour to address this esteemed gathering this morning at the World Sustainability Symposium. I stand before you today with a deep sense of purpose, as we come together to chart a path toward a more sustainable future for the aviation industry globally and for Hong Kong.
First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to IATA and the Cathay Group for inviting me to speak at this prestigious occasion, which is one of IATA's signature events of the year. It is a fitting choice for you to host the third edition of the symposium here in Hong Kong - a city that we all love and has emerged as a leading player in sustainable aviation in the region. I have heard that this year's edition has brought together nearly 500 participants from all over the world, including senior executives, professional experts, and thought leaders in the field of green aviation. I warmly welcome all of you to Hong Kong and sincerely hope you take some time to explore and enjoy the vibrancy and warmth in Hong Kong. This hotel is well-situated, where you can have a good perspective of our harbour.
My bureau oversees not only aviation but also land transport, maritime and logistics. Not only are we charting a path towards green aviation, we have also promulgated a series of action plans and blueprints to promote green transport and green shipping.
Our presence here today underscores a shared commitment to achieving a sustainable future for aviation. With so many distinguished experts in the room, I need not reiterate the critical importance of sustainability and decarbonisation in the aviation sector. This symposium provides a unique platform for leaders from around the world to exchange perspectives and provide solutions on green aviation. As we embark on this dialogue, I would like to begin by sharing Hong Kong's achievements and our forward-looking blueprint for building a sustainable aviation ecosystem.
When we speak of sustainability in aviation, our recent focus must be on sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF. This is indeed a complex and multifaceted challenge that demands co-operation and collaboration amongst a wide array of stakeholders, including governments, airlines, fuel suppliers, industry partners, and the traveling public. In Hong Kong, we are taking decisive steps to develop a SAF industry and promote the use of it at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). In our view, it is of utmost importance that we join hands to scale up the production of SAF, as we all know that it is currently the only practical means for international aviation to decarbonise.
The HKSAR (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) Government is dedicated to fostering a robust SAF supply and its supply chain in collaboration with Mainland authorities and local enterprises, from upstream raw material collection to the establishment of production plants and large-scale production and supply. Given Hong Kong's close proximity to the Chinese Mainland, which has the largest supply of used cooking oil, we are leveraging this advantage to create a significant SAF supply for Hong Kong. Moreover, as 100 per cent neat SAF cannot be uplifted to aircraft at this moment, we are actively exploring the construction of a SAF blending facility right here in Hong Kong. This facility aims to support the provision of competitively priced SAF-blended jet fuel in the long run, hence raising the competitiveness of Hong Kong's SAF industry. By doing so, we also aim to strengthen the bargaining power of airlines operating from HKIA, ultimately fostering HKIA's competitiveness as an international aviation hub.
On this floor, I know that Cathay Pacific Group has been leading and is very dedicated in pushing forward the use of SAF. Of course, we would work closely with Cathay as our close partner. We are also mindful of the pragmatic and practical considerations faced by different airlines in Hong Kong. In a way, we hope to create a critical mass and to achieve and secure a reasonably priced SAF supply and production to enable us to create a robust supply chain for SAF in Hong Kong. With the above measures in place and subject to regional SAF industry development, we adopt a vision to achieve a SAF consumption ratio of 1 per cent to 2 per cent for flights departing from HKIA by 2030 as a starting point to drive momentum.
"The Chief Executive's Policy Address" announced just last month includes quite some paragraphs on how we would strive ourselves to achieve the SAF consumption target. We, in a recent briefing for our legislature, disclosed the target that I mentioned just now. I received a lot of feedback asking whether Hong Kong could set a more aggressive target. Replying to the stakeholders and the legislative councillors was that we want to be pragmatic and realistic. We want to put it into action. So, we set a target which we hope to achieve. That is a starting point, and this should not preclude or hinder us from setting an even more aggressive target along the way.
Apart from the industry and aviation partners, I think public education is also very important. As we take people along from places to places, the travelling public need to raise their awareness for green aviation. It helps build a collective understanding of the role SAF plays in reducing aviation's carbon footprint. The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) will, for instance, launch targeted publicity and promotional campaigns to raise awareness among the public and corporations about the importance of SAF, and the need for everyone to do their part. By engaging communities and businesses, we aim to create a culture of sustainability that supports long-term environmental goals. I think this culture of sustainability is the basic, core element and spirit that IATA has also been promoting around the globe.
Speaking of AAHK, I am proud to highlight their unwavering commitment to sustainability. Apart from SAF that I spoke of a lot, together with key aviation-related business partners, AAHK is dedicated to achieving Net Zero Carbon by 2050, a bold step making HKIA the world's greenest airport. Their efforts to embed sustainability into new developments at HKIA, integrate environmental best interests and practices, and address climate change and resilience given the airport's coastal location have all gained significant momentum. Initiatives such as trialing renewable diesel, expanding the use of electric and autonomous vehicles on the Airport Island, as well as continuously upgrading its equipment by incorporating more energy-efficient installation and technologies reflect a holistic approach to sustainable development at HKIA.
We are all acutely aware that the journey to a sustainable future in the aviation sector is not a solo mission. It is a global challenge and mission that requires collaboration across borders, industries, and sectors. The HKSAR Government is committed to playing a pivotal role by leading, offering policy support, driving innovation and technology, and most importantly, cultivating an enabling environment for sustainable aviation. Our door is always open. We will maintain close communication with international organisations, airlines, the airport community, fuel suppliers and industry stakeholders to tackle pressing challenges and difficulties. As Dr Thomsen (Senior Vice President Sustainability and Chief Economist of IATA, Dr Marie Owens Thomsen) just mentioned, it is not just saying when there is a will, there is a way. We have to create ways so as to make our will works. It is the time not for words, but for action.
Last but not least, international collaboration is paramount in this endeavor. No single city, country, or organisation can achieve net zero alone. We must share knowledge, pool resources and align our strategies to create a unified global response to the climate crisis. We have been facing very frequent super typhoons over the past weeks and months in Hong Kong, which is quite unprecedented. Our airport and aviation community have been making our best efforts to respond, recover and resurrect, but nothing is more important than tackling this issue at the heart of the problem and do it with passion and determination. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is precisely why gatherings like this symposium are vital for fostering such partnerships.
I truly look forward to the rich discussions and innovative insights that will emerge from this symposium, sparking actionable outcomes. And with the talent and the dedication I see in this room, I am more than confident that we can turn the vision of net zero by 2050 into a reality. It's a goal championed by IATA, but it's a future we will build together.
Lastly, I wish you all productive, inspiring and impactful sessions ahead. Thank you very much.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the speech.)
Ends/Tuesday, October 21, 2025
Issued at HKT 13:03
Issued at HKT 13:03
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