PRINTPanel of Experts
Melissa Brown, Serasi Capital
Melissa Brown is a Partner at Serasi Capital, an emerging markets-focused private equity fund of funds based in Singapore and Hong Kong, where she is a member of the investment committee and leads the team’s ESG integration process. Prior to Serasi Capital, she held a similar role at IDFC Capital. From 2003 to 2008, she was the Executive Director of ASrIA, a Hong Kong-based organization providing research to financial institutions on sustainable investment issues. Prior to joining ASrIA, she was a Managing Director and Deputy Head of Asian Equity Research at Citigroup/Salomon Smith Barney based in Hong Kong. Other positions held in her extensive investment career were at J.P. Morgan, Barclays de Zoete Wedd and Lord, Abbett & Company. She is currently a member of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Listing Committee and is a Director of Responsible Research Pte. Ltd., a research venture focused on the analysis of environmental, social, and governance performance of Asian listed companies.
Dr. Peiyuan Guo, SynTao
Peiyuan is the co-founder and general manager of SynTao Co. Ltd, a Beijing consulting company that focuses on promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) and socially responsible investment (SRI) in China. He has extensive experience in CSR, sustainable finance and corporate environmental management, having worked with state-owned enterprises and multinational corporations across the country. He has developed sustainability reports for several companies in China, written original investor research and collaborated with CSR Asia, ASrIA and BSR on CSR issues, as well as managing the Carbon Disclosure Project: China. Peiyuan is a regular speaker at international CSR/SRI conferences.
Linda Hwang, Business for Social Responsibility
As a manager on BSR’s Environmental Research & Innovation team, Linda works with companies to identify and prioritise water-related risks for their business operations, to drive their strategies on emerging issues related to supply, access, quality and land-use changes, and heads the Sustainable Water Group. Linda currently leads two initiatives in southern China: one on how global apparel and retail brands can reverse the degradation of water systems; and a second exploring the impact of water management on environmental health. She also co-leads the Environmental Services, Tools & Markets Working Group, delivering solutions for integrating ecosystem services into corporate decision-making processes. Prior to joining BSR, Linda worked in equity research investment banking and helped lead community development strategies in South Africa.
Christine Loh, Civic Exchange
Christine Loh is the founder and CEO of Civic Exchange, an independent, non-profit policy think tank. Prior to her career in politics, Ms Loh enjoyed a successful 14-year career in the commercial sector. In 1992, she was appointed to the Legislative Council, and ran two successful elections in 1995 and 1998. She had a popular career as a politician until 2000 when she chose not to seek re-election in order to found Civic Exchange. Her legislative success included the reform of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, rural inheritance rights, equal opportunity legislation and the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. Ms Loh has written and commented extensively on the areas of economics, political economy and corporate responsibility in both mass circulation and academic publications. She has been awarded the degree of Doctors of Law, honoris causa, by the University of Hull. In addition, she has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Young Persons Award (1988), Global Young Leader – World Economic Forum (1995) and Asia’s Rising Stars – Business Week (1998) and (2000). She was elected to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited in April 2006. Recently, she is also the first HK citizen to be appointed to co-chair the New York-based organization Human Rights in China.
Ma Jun, Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs
Ma Jun is the director of the Beijing-based NGO, the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, and a well-known and respected leader in China’s environmental community. In his seminal book entitledChina’s Water Crisis, Ma drew global attention to the significant deterioration of the country’s water resources. In 2006 and 2007, he launched the unique China air and water pollution online databases, for the first time providing public access to key pollution data. His work is on-going and includes development of the databases as well as innovative approaches to engaging the corporate community in efforts to mitigate and prevent pollution. He has received several awards and citations for his databases and his proactive engagement with the corporate sector, which includes such brands as Wal-mart, GE, Nike, Esquel, among others. Ma Jun was an investigative journalist with the South China Morning Post prior to publishing his book in 1999.
