I hadn’t been to Hong Kong in a number of years, so I was very pleased to receive an invitation to participate in UBS’ Asia Energy, Chemicals and Utilities Conference 2015 in the city. It gave me a chance to catch up with some long-time friends like Christine Loh (now the Undersecretary of Environment in the city); Jessica Robinson (who recently became Director of the UN Principles of Responsible Investment [UN PRI] for Asia [ex Japan]); and, of course, Simon Powell, who is Executive Director of UBS Investment Research, & Head of Asian Utilities Research at the company (and who extended the invitation). My UBS presentation was entitled ‘Emissions Trading in China.’

The conference was held up on the 52nd floor of IFC2…. pleasantly reminding me of my former office on the 37th floor of that same building some years ago. I stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel at IFC, in a room with a – distinctly different! – view than the Florentine one noted below. But unfortunately not all interim changes in the city have been positive. I used to routinely visit the Dymocks bookstore in the IFC Mall – now long gone, and replaced by a high-end fashion boutique. Even worse, the favorite Page One bookstore mentioned in my December 2009 posting has suffered a similar fate…. although the Starbucks is still there (& now expanded). Everyone in that coffee shop seemed to be immersed in their mobile phones, however, rather than reading hard copy…. an observation clearly indicative of wistful nostalgia on the part of an inveterate book-reader. [But then again, wistful nostalgia seems to be an all-too-common theme in my HK postings; note, for example, the Jan Morris discussion in my August 2007 posting].

A room with a – very different! – view

I also used the HK visit to catch up with Jeff Hou & Jason Zhou, my energy management colleagues across the border in Shenzhen. I last saw them about a year ago, when we visited an energy information company in Hefei (in Anhui Province)….. & they treated me to yet another sumptuous culinary feast! Given Jason’s frequent U.S. visits in the interim period, his English has improved considerably – & is certainly much, much better than my [essentially non-existent] Chinese!