Christine Loh Kung-wai, SBS, OBE, JP, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite (born 1 February 1956), is a former

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Legislative Councillor, founder and CEO of Civic Exchange, founder of the Citizens Party, and founder of Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor. From 2012 to 2017, she was Under Secretary for the Environment in the government of

CY Leung Leung Chun-ying ( zh, t=梁振英; born 12 August 1954), also known as CY Leung, is a Hong Kong politician and chartered surveyor who has served as vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Confe ...

. From April 2019 to March 2020, she was Special Consultant to the HKSAR Chief Executive of Ecological Civilization and the Greater Bay Area, attached to the

Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide Decision-making, decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body ...

. Until her appointment as Undersecretary for the Environment, Loh was CEO of Civic Exchange, the Hong Kong

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

that she co-founded in 2000. She received many awards, including "Stars of Asia" in 1998 and again in 2000 by BusinessWeek, "Hero of the Environment 2007" by ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and "Woman Who Makes a Difference 2009" by RBS Coutts/FT in Women of Asia Awards. She has worked in many areas, including law, business, politics, media and the

non-profit sector In relation to public services, the voluntary sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by non-governmental, not for profit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector (in contrast to the public sector and the private sector ...

, but is best known as a leading voice in public policy in Hong Kong, particularly in environmental protection, sustainable finance, and governance reform. In 2017, following the end of her official role, she became an adjunct professor in the Division of Environment and Sustainability at the

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is a public research university in Sai Kung District, New Territories, Hong Kong. Founded in 1991, it was the territory's third institution to be granted university status, and the firs ...

, and is also Chief Development Strategist at its Institute for the Environment. In 2019 Loh released the second edition of her book ''Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong'', first published in 2010. Starting in 2018, Loh has been teaching a course on non

market risk Market risk is the risk of losses in positions arising from movements in market variables like prices and volatility. There is no unique classification as each classification may refer to different aspects of market risk. Nevertheless, the m ...

s at the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Education and professional career

Loh attended St. Paul's Convent School in Causeway Bay, and later Island School in Mid-levels, Hong Kong. She then went to Bedford High School in the UK. She later attended the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, and

City University of Hong Kong The City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) is a public research university in Kowloon Tong, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and formally established as the City University of Hong Kong in 1994 ...

(Masters of Law in Chinese & Comparative Law) and the

(Doctor of Law, honoris causa). Loh worked for 12 years as a commodities trader (1980–1991), rising to become managing director at Philipp Brothers and Phibro Energy — the physical commodities trading arms of US multinational Salomon, Inc. (now Citicorp) — before joining a Hong Kong company (CIM Co.), where she headed the special projects division between 1992 and 1994. In April 2006, she was elected by shareholders of the

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX; ) operates a range of equity, commodity, fixed income and currency markets through its wholly owned subsidiaries The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK), Hong Kong Futures Exchange Limite ...

(HKEx) to be a director of the company and served till 2009.

Political career

Loh was appointed to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

(LegCo) in 1992. In

1995 Hong Kong legislative election The 1995 Hong Kong Legislative Council election for members of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) was held on 17 September 1995. It was the first, and only, fully elected legislative election in the colonial period before transferrin ...

and

1998 Hong Kong legislative election The 1998 Hong Kong Legislative Council election was held on 24 May 1998 for members of the 1st Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo) since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in 1997. Replacing the Provisi ...

she ran in two direct elections and won by large margins. She co-founded, in 1995, the Society for Protection of the Harbour and was responsible for creating and sponsoring the historic Protection of the Harbour Ordinance. While part of the democratic camp in LegCo, she took a less confrontational approach than some, preferring to keep open lines of communication with all sides. She has been described as Hong Kong's "reasonable radical". In 2000, she and Lisa Hopkinson co-founded a Hong Kong-based non-profit

, Civic Exchange, and once again entered the political spotlight, but outside of the LegCo. She resigned as its chief executive on 11 September 2012 upon her appointment as Undersecretary for the Environment in the administration of CY Leung, taking up her new post the following day. At the same time, she resigned from all her positions in other non-profit organizations, academic affiliations, and non-executive directorships in commercial firms. As Undersecretary for the Environment, Loh was responsible for drafting policy documents, including on air quality, energy, and climate change. She was responsible for stakeholder engagement in such matters as biodiversity and energy saving in buildings. Loh was also responsible for changing Hong Kong's shipping emissions regulation, which resulted in mainland China changing its policy, as well as playing a crucial role in ending the local trading of ivory. She left the government at the end of

's term, on 30 June 2017.

Other activities

From the 1980s, Loh is a published author of many academic and popular works, she hosted a public affairs radio program at one time, and is an Op-Ed writer and presenter and speaker on the environment, climate change, green finance, as well as geopolitics, such as US-China relations.

Affiliations

* Chairperson, Hong Kong Observers, 1980s * Chairperson,

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of grassroots environmental organizations in 73 countries. About half of the member groups call themselves "Friends of the Earth" in their own languages; the others use other ...

(HK), 1991–1992; 1993–1994 * Chairperson, Citizens Party (HK), 1997–2000 * Chairperson, Society for Protection of the Harbour, 2003-200? * Council Member,

, 1999–2005 * Honorary Research Fellow, Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management,

University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pokfulam, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society and formally established as the University of ...

, 2001–2005 * Member, Advisory Committee,

Securities and Futures Commission The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) of Hong Kong is the independent statutory body charged with regulating the securities and futures markets in Hong Kong. The SFC is responsible for fostering an orderly securities and futures markets ...

, 2001–2005 * Chief Executive, Civic Exchange, 2000–2012 * Chairperson, Society for Protection of the Harbour, 2003–2012 * Co-chair,

Human Rights in China Human rights in the People's Republic of China are poor, as per reviews by international bodies, such as human rights treaty bodies and the United Nations Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), th ...

, 2005–2012

Publications

* ''At the Epicentre: Hong Kong and the SARS Outbreak'' (book), Hong Kong University Press, 2004. * ''Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong'' (book),

Hong Kong University Press Hong Kong University Press (abbreviated as HKU Press) is the university press of the University of Hong Kong. It was established in 1956 and publishes more than 50 titles per year in both Chinese and English. Most works in English are on cultura ...

, 2010, 1st edition; and 2nd edition (2018). * ''No Third Person: Rewriting the Hong Kong Story'' (book, co-written with Richard Cullen), Abbreviated Press, 2018. An extended version of the book (“Hong Kong in China” has been published in Chinese by City University of Hong Kong Press in 2021).

Awards

* Outstanding Young Person’s Award 1988 * Communicator of the Year, 1994 * Stars of Asia, ''

Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'', 1998 * Stars of Asia, ''

'', 2000 * Entrepreneur of the Year (Women of Influence Award, The American Chamber of Commerce, Hong Kong, 2003) * Honorary degree from

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

(15 July 2016), for her contribution to environmental protection *

Silver Bauhinia Star The Silver Bauhinia Star (, SBS) is the second rank of the Order of the Bauhinia Star under the honours system of Hong Kong, awarded to people who have taken a leading part in public affairs or voluntary work over a long period. The award was ...

by the Hong Kong SAR Government (1 July 2017)

References

External links

Christine Loh's profile
at Civic Exchange {{DEFAULTSORT:Loh, Christine Alumni of the University of Hull People educated at Island School Alumni of the City University of Hong Kong Hong Kong businesspeople Leaders of political parties 1956 births Living people Citizens Party (Hong Kong) politicians HK LegCo Members 1991–1995 HK LegCo Members 1995–1997 HK LegCo Members 1998–2000 Recipients of the Silver Bauhinia Star Officers of the Order of the British Empire 20th-century Hong Kong women politicians 21st-century Hong Kong women politicians