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Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Alaya Consulting is a specialist consultancy focusing on ESG reporting, pre-assurance and sustainability training.
Associate consultant
Ruby Fang joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant in hopes to promote corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. Her main role includes day-to-day client communication, data management and preparation of reports. She graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a major in Environmental Sciences and a minor in Social Sciences. Ruby has also completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Associate consultant
I joined Alaya Consulting with an interest in environmental protection and sustainable development, hoping to provide better solutions for different companies, promoting sustainable development and achieving carbon neutrality. I was mainly responsible for data collection, environmental disclosure, carbon audits and assisting in the preparation of reports. I am fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. I graduated with a master’s degree in environmental engineering and management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric science from Nanjing University. I am also a yoga enthusiast.
Associate consultant
Xiaotong is responsible for handling data collection, writing ESG reports, and day-to-day client communications. She also assists with ESG disclosures and client support. She obtained her Master of Chemical Engineering in Shenzhen University, with a longterm focus on environmental pollutant assessment.
She also graduated in Bachelor of Engineering Science from Chang’an University, majoring in water pollution management.
Intern
Alisa Lam is an intern working at Alaya consulting during her gap year. She plans on studying Politics, International Relations and Global Sustainable Development at Warwick University in 2022. She has a keen interest in understanding what makes the best sustainability report, promoting corporate social responsibility and learning how to tailor sustainable strategies for different companies. She understands that implementing environmental and social policies is crucial in building a successful and resilient enterprise in today’s world. She is responsible for writing and revising reports as well as doing research for Alaya.
Management Trainee
Gabriel joined Alaya Consulting as a management trainee, responsible for conducting ESG advisory and reporting along with assisting the business development and marketing team.
He graduated from The University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree of science majored in Environmental Science. Gabriel understands that working towards improving environmental and social issues is fundamental to building a sustainable and successful business. He would like to make a positive impact by joining the ESG advisory industry.
Associate consultant
Better ESG management shapes a more resilient and sustainable future.
Responsible for handling social data collection and analysis; Assist in preparing the sustainability report and daily communications with clients; Advise clients on ESG- related issues to optimize ESG disclosure and improve ESG performance.
Graduated from Uppsala University in Sweden with a master's degree in business and economics. Master thesis themed in green finance.
Associate Consultant
Eason joined Alaya Consulting as an associate consultant, responsible for preparing ESG reports. He is passionate about sustainability and eager in helping enterprises to improve their ESG performance. He graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in science, major in Earth System Science and minor in Biology. Eason’s hobbies are playing table tennis and playing the guitar.
Consultant
Alva Yeung is keen in helping companies create sustainability strategies to help mitigate environment and social impact. Coming from an international relations background, she is familiar with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, UN Global Compact and other international initiatives. She is also responsible for social data analysis, facilitating stakeholder communication, ESG report writing and day-to-day client communication. Alva has completed the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) accreditation training.
Alva obtained her Master of International Relations and Public Affairs in University of Hong Kong and Bachelor Degree in City University of Hong Kong, major in Asian and International Studies.
Business Development and Marketing Manager
Sunny joined Alaya in 2020 with a goal to bolster ESG and sustainability in Hong Kong.
He works with Alaya to develop and promote its initiatives such as HERA and ESG Newswire.
He also works with existing and new partners to collaborate and host events promoting ESG strategy and disclosure.
Sunny has great plans to design and develop Alaya’s own ESG rating system in the coming future.
Born in India, bred in Hong Kong, and a bachelor’s degree from NYU, Sunny comes from a rich and diverse range of experiences.
He majored in Finance and Marketing and minored in Social Entrepreneurship.
He co-founded his own social enterprise, Grounded Upcycling, in New York that upcycles spent coffee grounds into soap and face masks.
In his free time, Sunny likes to go hiking, read, or play Squash!
Founder
Tony is the founder of Alaya Consulting Limited. With more than 16 years of experience in advising C-suite executives, both in-house and from the client side, he is particularly experienced in the development of corporate sustainability strategies, training, communication and ESG reporting approaches.
Tony works with client companies to help them improve disclosure levels and ESG ratings. Recent clients include AAC Technologies, CIMC, Panda Green Energy, Chiho Environmental Group, Integrated Waste Management, Baguio, MicroPort, Tianjin Port and others. Recent projects include organising the Hong Kong ESG Reporting Awards, contributing to the development of industry best practices.
Tony is a Chartered Company Secretary, a GRI Nominated Trainer, a carbon audit professional accredited by the Association of Energy Engineers, a Practitioner of Institute of Environmental Management Association and a certified sustainability assurance practitioner. He has also successfully completed the practitioner training of Integrated Reporting.
Prior to setting up Alaya, Tony assumed senior roles in various leading communications agencies and a Fortune top 10 financial services group. Before embarking on his career in communications, Tony spent a number of years in banking and financial journalism. He received a master’s degree in Corporate Governance from Hong Kong Polytechnic University and a bachelor’s degree in International Business from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Procrastination on Tackling Climate Risk Has Immediate Consequence
Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, recently announced that it would halt investment in companies that did not show enough efforts in addressing climatic risks.
In July, Blackrock identified a watch list involving 244 companies that either had not achieved sufficient progress in curbing climate change, or had failed to disclose their climate risks adequately enough to their shareholders. In particular, 53 of the companies had their management board directors voted against by Blackrock, while Blackrock stated that it would punish the remaining companies if no further actions were taken in advancing their practices and disclosures regarding climate change. Additionally, Blackrock announced its plan to stop financing companies that generated more than 25% of their revenues from thermal coal production by mid-2020.
Blackrock’s ESG measures entail profound implications. Within the industry, Blackrock would pressurize other large financial firms to follow suit in their ESG practices, since otherwise they would risk losing competitiveness. Being a well-recognized industry giant, Blackrock is often regarded as an exemplar, implying that its attitudes towards ESG would significantly influence that of its counterparts and could potentially drive a ripple effect across the whole business sector.
The new initiatives also demonstrated Blackrock’s efforts in taking real actions rather than just saying without doing. A few years ago, it might have been normal for companies to subtly put off ESG commitments without any consequences; yet today, companies in the watch list could no longer shun ESG responsibilities since there is an urgency for actual changes to be undertaken, and the risk of losing investment from Blackrock would translate into serious business obstacles. Companies are expected to not simply adhere to regulations in disclosing ESG matters on paper, but to go beyond compliance levels and take real actions in order to gain recognition.
Early this year, BlackRock announced a number of initiatives to place sustainability at the center of its investment approach, including making sustainability integral to portfolio construction and risk management; exiting investments that present a high sustainability-related risk, such as thermal coal producers. Blackrock also joined the Climate Action 100+ initiative in demanding necessary actions to be taken by the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters.
The financial relevance of ESG has been increasingly recognized, accompanied with a gradual shift in investors’ focus by perceiving ESG as an integral part of investment decisions. Climate change is no longer simply an environmental or social concern, but it incurs significant investment risks that should be given much attention in the business world.
Despite the detrimental impacts caused by COVID-19 on many asset managers, Blackrock experienced marginal effects and demonstrated how it was possible to pursue ESG excellence without compensating financial returns. As previous allegations of plausible financial trade-offs involved in enhancing ESG performance were proved wrong, the tide has turned, making ESG the “new standard of investment” as BlackRock’s Global Executive Committee has asserted in their client letter this year.