CLP takes honours in BDO environment, social and governance awards

01 March 2019 Consultancy.asia

Accountancy network BDO has honoured Cathay Pacific, Lenovo and CLP Holdings for sustainability and reporting in its Hong Kong environment, social and governance awards.

Now into its second year, the BDO ESG Awards seek to recognise and honour Hong Kong-listed companies for their efforts in implementing outstanding sustainability initiatives in the areas of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting. Backing up from last year, local airline Cathay Pacific and computing tech company Lenovo were again named best in ESG and in Reporting in the large market capitalisation division.

Joining the pair this year in both categories was Hong Kong electric company CLP Holdings, which, in having the highest aggregate score, also took out the top ESG Report of the Year accolade ahead of last year’s winner Lenovo. Meanwhile, COSCO SHIPPING Ports claimed the award in medium cap category, while Esprit Holdings was triumphant in the small cap division and Roma Group was the overall GEM board winner.

Otherwise known as China Light and Power Company, CLP in 2017 had an A+ on the Hang Seng Corporate Sustainability Index, and is both committed to sustainable practices and highly transparent – with the especially detailed sustainability section of the company’s website featuring prominently (the published 2017 figures were independently assured by PwC) and covering governance, environment and employee safety among other areas.CLP takes top honours in BDO environment, social and governance awards“We are pleased to see that Hong Kong listed companies are caring more about the quality of their ESG disclosure, evident from their increased inclusion of more information which are useful and of interest to stakeholders and investors in ESG reporting, telling us that the transition from basic ESG report to the global trend of ‘impact reporting’ is in good progress,” said Clement Chan, Managing Director of Assurance for BDO in Hong Kong.

Companies listed in Hong Kong have since 2016 been required to disclose annual ESG information, with the BDO awards analysing the reporting of 400-plus companies in a bid to encourage development in the areas of ESG and ESG reporting. According to the firm’s previous survey, only 64 percent of the companies reviewed had exceeded minimum expectations – noted as an improvement but still far from satisfactory. An FTI Consulting report from last year found Malaysia to be leading the way for voluntary disclosure in ASEAN.

Chan continued; “We believe companies have come to appreciate the value of ESG reporting and are therefore putting time and resources to incorporate sustainability elements in their business models and value chain that in return brings new business opportunities to them. We at BDO, as a comrade of ESG facilitators, will continue to offer support to them in helping their companies raise ESG standards and performance and in turn contribute to overall ESG development in Hong Kong.”

“The Reporting Awards organised by the BDO aspire to recognise listed companies that have displayed the best corporate endeavors in compiling and communicating their ESG activities and performance to their stakeholders,” said Carlos Lo, Chairman of the Judging Panel of the Best in Reporting Awards. “ESG Reporting is an important mechanism for actively engaging listed companies in corporate social responsibility in order to pave the way for them to achieve business sustainability.”

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