At Mayer Brown, Hong Kong-based Mark Uhrynuk and Susanne Harris co-lead the firm’s ESG industry group initiative, which oversees the firm’s client-facing ESG work. Uhrynuk is also a founding member of the firm’s ESG steering committee and an editor of the firm’s Eye on ESG blog, which covers developments in ESG from a range of perspectives. Harris, who is a litigator, frequently speaks on ESG issues, including the evolving ESG regulatory landscape and ESG-related reputational, litigation and enforcement risks.

Hong Kong finance partner Francis Chen has advised on a number of syndicated sustainability-linked loans, including most recently, West Kowloon District Authority as borrower in its inaugural HK$4bn sustainability-linked loan facilities, and an international bank on a three-year HK$1.2bn sustainability-linked loan facility to Tongda Group.

Outside of the sustainable finance space, the firm’s Hong Kong team advised a shipping company on voluntary carbon offsets and is working on climate-related disclosure procedures for an asset management company.

Also committed to climate action beyond its client work, the firm sponsors the Kowloon Motor Bus’ decarbonisation initiative and has partnered with A Plastic Ocean Foundation, which promotes coastal water purification though supporting the local pearl oyster population. Notably, it also partnered with the Commonwealth Secretariat to rebuild the Energy Module of the Law and Climate Change Toolkit, a UN resource for helping countries develop Paris-aligned legal frameworks as they take action against climate change.