The Matcha Initiative
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Chris is the Head of Strategic Partnerships Asia Pacific at Climeworks, where he helps APAC businesses navigate the role of carbon removals in their net-zero journey. Prior to this position, Chris worked for South Pole, supporting Asian clients in their climate leadership and circular economy journey. The scope of services included both carbon credits & sustainability consultancy. Chris managed clients from more than 10 Asian countries in categories such as conglomerate, agriculture, property development, asset management, retailing, information technology, and energy.
As an experienced sustainability-focused business developer, I could facilitate users/organizations with getting their internal buy-in for supporting sustainability/decarbonization projects. For instance, I could help analyse the current status of the organization and suggest possible first steps (e.g., understanding stakeholder expectations, training/capacity building, and learning about what peers are doing) before C-suite allocates a budget for sustainability teams.
I can exchange and talk also about carbon credits, energy attribute certificates, and plastic credits.
I grew up in China and I witnessed the most rapid urbanization during my childhood and adolescence. While I was amazed by the improvement in life quality in general, the scale of environmental pollution and social issues was daunting. For example, I was sick of the hazy days when I was a student. The industrial waste & polluted natural resources were also disturbing.
After I experienced the environmental and social issues in urban, suburban, and rural China directly, I became determined to tackle sustainability in my life. Hence, I decided to major in Environmental Studies at my university. Upon graduation, I joined one of the big accountancy firms' sustainability and climate change team, supporting companies with their compliance-based sustainability projects including sustainability reporting, ESG due diligence, and greenhouse gas verification under Singapore's carbon tax.
I was a business developer and key account manager, in charge of building bridges between organizations and sustainability.
When I first joined South Pole in 2021, most Asian companies were compliance-based and they were not sure of advancing their climate journey beyond regulatory requirements. After talking to some organizations and understanding their concerns, I decided to engage the companies frequently and build their awareness of the climate issue.
For example, I started my conversation with an Asian conglomerate back in 2021. The conglomerate was not ready to start its climate journey and my point of contact was too busy to reply to my email. I sent several update emails on industry sustainability trends and sustainability reports. A year passed by and the conglomerate was impressed by our company's net zero report. We started a 4-month project together.
I feel proud of my authentic passion about climate change and sustainability. In my daily life, I try my best to have a sustainable lifestyle. Hence, I am a very consistent sustainability professional both at work and in life.