Mark Watson is Head of Sustainable Development at John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd., having previously been Head of Environmental Affairs at Cathay Pacific Airways Limited since 2008.  Mark has worked in the sustainable development arena for over 20 years since obtaining his Doctorate from the University of London in 1995.   Throughout his career, he has provided strategic and technical advice to international governments, aid agencies and multinationals on a wide range of environmental, economic and social issues.

At Cathay Pacific, Mark was global lead on a diverse range of sustainability-related initiatives and efforts to address climate change such as market based measures (MBMs), technology deployment and operational improvements.  He also authored Cathay Pacific’s Sustainable Development Strategy.  As a member of the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Environment Committee, Climate Change Task Force (CCTF) and ICAO Global Market Based Measure Task Force (GMTF), he played an active role in developing the first global scheme to address aviation emissions which comes into effect in 2021.

In his current role he is responsible for the global sustainable development portfolio of both the publicly listed businesses within Swire Pacific and the private companies of John Swire & Sons, including aviation, property, marine, beverages, trading and industrial and agribusiness.   The position covers addressing overall environmental impact reductions, identifying and leveraging best practices in the water, carbon, waste and energy sectors, as well as overseeing the group’s sustainable development strategy.