Hong Kong, 15 May 2020 － To mark the first anniversary of Business Environment Council (“BEC”)’s Low Carbon Charter, a webinar was organised today to celebrate the progress and achievements of the initial group of signatories and introduce new signatories who have agreed to join us in the decarbonisation journey.
Mr C.W. Tse, Under Secretary for the Environment, was the webinar’s guest-of-honour. “In any city combating climate change is a challenging task which cannot be tackled by the Government alone. Contributions from the entire community are instrumental to achieving this important goal. I would like to express my sincere appreciation to BEC for the efforts in expanding the Low Carbon Charter to cover all business sectors. I would also like to congratulate all signatories for successfully taking one step forward to decarbonisation. Let’s work together to develop Hong Kong into a responsible and livable low-carbon city.”
Climate change is one of the most urgent global challenges of our time. As a corporate membership organisation with a mission to drive Hong Kong’s transition to a low carbon economy, BEC successfully launched the BEC Low Carbon Charter last year, an initiative which dovetailed with the Government’s effort to develop Hong Kong’s long-term decarbonisation strategy. The Charter demonstrates business leadership in driving and implementing concrete actions to tackle global warming. It stands out from past initiatives of its kind as it responds specifically to the call for action of the Paris Agreement, encouraging signatories to set decarbonisation targets supported by comprehensive action plans.
“From a business perspective, taking action to reduce carbon emissions is a responsible way of reducing risks that climate change can bring to businesses. There are also opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce cost and enhance resilience of organisations. To walk the talk and lead by example, BEC also signed onto the Charter and will join force with other signatories to decarbonise.” Mr Adam Koo, CEO of Business Environment Council said.
By signing on the BEC Low Carbon Charter, signatories can choose and commit to one of the two pathways towards decarbonisation consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement, that is, to keep global average temperature rise this century well-below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5°C. Pathway 1 is a commitment to acknowledge and work towards the goals of the Paris Agreement by setting decarbonisation targets, while Pathway 2 is committing to set and achieve decarbonisation targets through the Science Based Targets Initiative.
This Charter received support from the Environment Bureau as well as other business organisations. During the first year, 34 companies from the property and construction value chain signed on to the Charter. Since the beginning of 2020, the Charter has expanded to welcome companies across all sectors. As of today, 30 new signatories have joined the Charter, bringing the total number to 64.
List of New Signatories (in alphabetical order):
- Acuity Sustainability Consulting Limited
- Acumen Environmental Engineering & Technologies Co. Ltd.
- Business Environment Council Limited
- CLP Holdings
- Deutsche Post DHL Group
- Friends of the Earth (HK) Charity Ltd
- Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong) Limited
- Fung Group
- Harbour City Estates Limited
- Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited
- Jinchat Climaveneta Hong Kong Company Limited
- Kum Shing Holdings Limited
- Kwoon Chung Bus Holdings Limited
- Modern Terminals Limited
- Nature & Technologies (HK) Ltd.
- NWS Holdings
- Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Limited
- Plaza Hollywood Limited
- Pura Vida Limited
- Scania (Hong Kong) Limited
- Schneider Electric (Hong Kong) Limited
- Siemens Limited
- The Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited
- The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
- The Hongkong Electric Company Limited
- Times Square Limited
- Tony Ip Green Architects Limited
- Tradeport Hong Kong Limited
- TÜV Rheinland Hong Kong Ltd.
- Wheelock Properties
List of Initial Signatories (in alphabetical order):
- AECOM Asia Company Limited
- Agile Group Holdings Limited
- Airport Authority Hong Kong
- Alliance Construction Materials Limited
- Allied Sustainability and Environmental Consultants Group Limited
- China Harbour Engineering Company Limited
- Chinachem Group
- CITIC Tower Property Management Company Limited
- Cundall Hong Kong Limited
- Gammon Construction Limited
- Goodwill Management Limited
- Green Island Cement Company Limited
- Grosvenor Limited
- Hang Lung Properties Limited
- Harriman Property Management Limited
- Hong Kong Housing Society
- Hong Yip Service Company Limited
- Hongkong Land Limited
- Hysan Development Company Limited
- Kerry Properties Limited
- Lan Kwai Fong Properties Limited
- Leigh & Orange Limited
- Link Asset Management Limited
- Nan Fung Property Management
- New World China Land Limited
- New World Development Company Limited
- Ocean Park Hong Kong
- Ronald Lu & Partners (Hong Kong) Limited
- Shiu Wing Steel Limited
- Sino Land Company Limited
- Swire Properties Limited
- The Jardine Engineering Corporation, Limited
- Wo Lee Steel Company Limited
- Yau Lee Holdings Limited
The BEC Low Carbon Charter is an initiative supported by the BEC Climate Change Business Forum Advisory Group Steering Committee.
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