Organised by Carbon Care Asia Limited (CCA) and co-organised by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies (CHKLC), a corporate seminar on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure and SDG mapping was held on 6 July 2018 with the support of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, the Hong Kong Green Building Council, the Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals’ Association, the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts, Irasia.com Ltd and Solomon Financial Press Limited as the venue sponsor. Representatives of CCA shared their analyses and interpretation of the “Analysis of Environment, Social and Governance Practice Disclosure in 2016/2017 ” published by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX) in May 2018 and offered suggestions on how companies should respond. The event attracted a full house of 170 guests representing different companies and organisations.

CCA speakers included Ir Albert Lai, Chief Executive Officer; Ms Chloe Mok, Director of Sustainability Services and Mr John Sayer, Director of CCA and Stakeholder Council member of the Global Reporting Initiative. Ir Albert Lai identified twelve pitfalls from the HKEX ESG review that companies should take note of when reporting their ESG performance to avoid non-compliance or even breaches of Listing Rules. Ms Chloe Mok categorised the twelve pitfalls into four aspects: board participation; materiality assessment; compliance with policies, rules and regulations; and pitfalls specific to the disclosure of environmental key performance indicators, and elaborated further with report examples of companies from different countries and industries. Mr John Sayer focused on how companies could elevate their ESG reports by linking the “HKEX Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide ” to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations to enhance the quality and impact of their reporting. At the end of the presentations, the three speakers were joined by Mr Mike Wong, Chief Executive Officer of CHKLC, for a panel discussion which aroused an enthusiastic response from the audience.

As the event drew to a close, CCA, Chairman Mr Chong Chan Yau announced the launch of CarbonCare^® Label 2018 which accepts applications from 1 August to 31 Oct 2018. The theme of the scheme this year is “Sustainability: Excellence x Perseverance” and the eligibility criteria for different label categories were briefly explained. Apart from preparing entities for the transition to the low-carbon economy, the scheme is designed to reflect the tightened requirements of the HKEX for ESG reporting. All companies and organisations are welcome to apply.

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Photo captions:

1. (From left) CCA Board directors Ms Rosanna Wong and Mr John Sayer, CEO Ir Albert Lai posed for a group photo with the representatives of supporting organisations: Ms Ashley Khoo, Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts; Ms Irene Lau, Head of Business Development of Irasia.com Limited; Ms Ruby Wan, President of the Hong Kong Public Relations Professionals’ Association; Mr Mike Wong, Chief Executive Officer of CHKLC and Mr Ray Chan, Senior Manager of Business Development of Solomon Financial Press Limited.
2. A group photo of (from left) Ms Ashley Khoo, Immediate Past President of the Hong Kong Society of Financial Analysts; Ms Irene Lau, Head of Business Development of Irasia.com Limited; Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA; Mr Chong Chan Yau, Chairman of CCA; Ir Cary Chan, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Green Building Council; Ms Rosanna Wong, Director of CCA and Mr Mike Wong, Chief Executive Officer of CHKLC.
3. The seminar attracted a full house of 170 guests representing different companies and organisations.
4. Ir Albert Lai, CEO of CCA, identified twelve reporting pitfalls from the HKEX ESG Review that companies should take note to avoid non-compliance or even breaches of Listing Rules.
5. Mr John Sayer, Director of CCA and Stakeholder Council member of the Global Reporting Initiative, discussed how companies could enhance the quality and impact of their ESG reporting by linking the HKEX Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
6. Ms Chloe Mok, Director of Sustainability Services of CCA, categorised the twelve pitfalls into four aspects and elaborated further with report examples of companies from different countries and industries.
7. (From left) CHKLC CEO Mr Mike Wong, CCA CEO Ir Albert Lai, CCA Director Mr John Sayer and CCA Director of Sustainability Services Ms Chloe Mok formed a panel for discussion with the audience.
8. Enthusiastic participation of the audience was recorded at the discussion session.
9. The panel discussion was moderated by CCA Senior Sustainability Consultant Ms Bonnie Yip.
10. CCA Chairman Mr Chong Chan Yau and Senior Sustainability Consultant Ms Edith Yiu introduced the CarbonCare^® Label Scheme for 2018 and the eligibility criteria for different label applications.