Serving as the sole Green Innovation Partner for the event, City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) is playing a key role at the Global Sustainable Development Congress 2025 (GSDC) in Istanbul between 16 and 19 June.

The event, co-hosted by Türkiye's Council of Higher Education and convened by Times Higher Education, brings together the world’s leading thinkers, policymakers and actors from different sectors to drive new alliances and create positive action for a more sustainable future.

Playing their part in this global drive to raise even greater awareness about sustainability are several CityUHK researchers specialising in sustainable development issues, plus guest speakers from industry, banking, NGOs and social entrepreneurship.

Professor Freddy Boey, President and University Distinguished Professor, will participate in an invite-only Global Sustainability Leaders’ Summit titled “Beyond 2030: Leading with long-term vision” alongside speakers from the World Bank and Business Council for Sustainable Development Türkiye.

Professor Anderson Shum, Vice-President (Research), has been invited to join a panel for the International Green Skills Summit titled “Regional insights into developing a green workforce”.

Professor Shum will join Professor Edwin Tso of CityUHK’s School of Energy and Environment and one of their collaborators, Dr Wang Lin of UNESCO, to introduce the UNESCO-endorsed “Fostering Innovation for Resilience and Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) Programme”, a global initiative aimed at co-developing affordable and scalable technologies to promote environmental sustainability, social equity and improved quality of life.

One of the first sessions of the GSDC will be a CityUHK-led panel titled “Combating Biodiversity Loss in Our Oceans” with Professor Kenneth Leung Mei-yee of CityUHK’s Department of Chemistry joining Ms Amy Zhang, Société Générale Corporate and Investment Banking, Professor Brendan Godley, University of Exeter, and Ms Heidi Savelli-Soderberg, United Nations Environment Programme.

Professor Leung will join Professor Shauhrat S. Chopra, CityUHK’s School of Energy and Environment (SEE), for a talk on “Investing in a Sustainable Future - Life Cycle Management of Critical Infrastructure for Decarbonisation”. Professor Chopra will also join a panel titled “Bridging the gap: Strengthening the triple helix of university-industry-government collaboration for energy sustainability”, moderated by Professor Angus Yip, SEE, alongside Professor Bert George, CityUHK’s Department of Public and International Affairs, Professor Mandy Fang, CityUHK’s School of Law, and Mr Tim Wong, AECOM Asia.

Professor Benjamin Horton, Dean of SEE, will deliver an SDG Showcase titled “Are we at a defining moment for climate change and sustainability?” while Professor Ilex Lam of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, CityUHK, and Dr C. A. Tse of the Fullness Social Enterprises Society Ltd will deliver a talk titled “Transformational leadership: Equipping the workforce to tackle global challenges” about a special programme on environmental preservation and skills for impactful community engagement.

Please visit the thematic website for more information about CityUHK sustainability experts sharing their insights at GSDC 2025.