Business Environment Council published BEC Sustainability Report 2019 recently, which describes how the organisation works with its over 200 corporate members, stakeholders and the wider community to contribute to Hong Kong’s transition to a low carbon economy.
    This Sustainability Report covers BEC’s approach to sustainability including strategy, objectives, initiatives and performance over 2 fiscal years from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2019. In the period, BEC delivered 348 environmental projects, 155 community engagement activities and 9 policy submissions presenting the voice of business in relation to important environmental topics to the Chief Executive Policy Address, the debate on municipal solid waste charging, and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s updates to the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting Guide and related listing rules. The report also presents BEC’s environmental performance with significant decreases in the BEC Building’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and building energy consumption by 43% and 31%, respectively, since the baseline year (FY 2012/13).
    Titled “This Is How We Enable Sustainability”, the report also covers how BEC is an enabler within the sustainability ecosystem working to deliver value to our members, drive government and business action, and demonstrate leadership using BEC Building as a “Green Lab”. Furthermore, it assesses the impact of BEC’s initiatives to determine opportunities where it can contribute to the concerted efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising SDG 4: Quality Education <1> and SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals <2>. The report reinforces BEC’s commitment to drive positive sustainable change in Hong Kong guided by the 3 organisational strategic priorities. BEC will continue to leverage its expertise to support and advise companies in Hong Kong to reach the forefront of global sustainability trends. Demonstrating leadership in Hong Kong’s journey to a net-zero carbon future is core to BEC’s organisational objectives, therefore, BEC plans to commit to a long-term decarbonisation strategy which includes plans for setting BEC’s own carbon reduction target and strategy.
    BEC Sustainability Report 2019 can be accessed at BEC’s website at: https://bit.ly/3k3gWns  


(Photo: Rebecca Choy)