Green Council Launches Innovative Online ESG Assessment Platform and Related Service

Vital new tool for assessing corporate environmental, social and governance measures, with technical support by PwC

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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media
OutReach - 11 March 2019 – Green Council today unveiled a new online evaluation platform
— the Sustainability Assessment — for grading corporate environmental, social
and governance (ESG) maturity levels.

 

The innovative platform will
allow companies to comprehensively assess their ongoing ESG contributions — recognising
and encouraging sustainability practice in the corporate sector. The Sustainability
Assessment was developed alongside PwC, which provided technical advice on the development
of the system’s framework and methodology.

 

“The Sustainability Assessment is
a great new tool to help companies assess their own ESG practice. What this
means is that executives can now accurately evaluate the ESG performance and
maturity levels of their organisation in order to make thorough, clear comparisons
to past performance — and to consider and make improvements where necessary,”
said Green Council CEO Linda Ho.

 

“Meanwhile, as a standardised assessment
and rating system, the Sustainability Assessment can give investors a credible
and more transparent overview of the ESG performance of a company, allowing them
to make more responsible investment decisions.”

 

Dozens of business leaders were
introduced to the Sustainability Assessment at today’s official launch ceremony
and cocktail reception, hosted at The Rotunda, Exchange Square and
attended by Katherine Ng, Managing Director, Head of Policy, Listing, Hong Kong
Exchanges and Clearing Limited.

 

The Sustainability Assessment is a
comprehensive ESG performance rating which aims to act as a bridge between
firms and investors, by evaluating the maturity levels of companies’ sustainability
performance, according to a rigid set of ten principles, considering factors
including top management involvement, sustainability strategies, environment
impact, employee and customer rights and community contributions.

 

The tool helps further Green
Council’s ongoing goal of promoting sustainability practice to corporations,
ultimately leading the way to a greener, more sustainable Hong Kong.

 

“There is an increasing demand
from investors to have access to quality and reliable ESG information to make
their risk assessment and investment decisions,” said Sammie Leung, PwC Risk
Assurance Partner.

 

“PwC is delighted to be the
technical advisor of the Sustainability Assessment, launched today by the Green
Council. The assessment tool is designed to give companies a diagnostic view of
how their current ESG practices are doing when compared to market expectations
and good practices. The assessment result is aimed at helping companies to
better strategise and plan around how to enhance their ESG performance.”

 

The Sustainability Assessment builds
on a growing demand for companies to accurately report ESG measures, in the
wake of recent trends set by Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Market (HKEx), Global
Reporting Initiatives (GRI), and growing international awareness. It will
continue to be enhanced and updated over time to match the growing regulatory
expectations of ESG disclosure.

 

Participating companies will
demonstrate their ESG credentials by completing an intuitive online
questionnaire, submitting relevant supporting documentation and, where
necessary, completing a follow-up interview. After the information is verified,
a full assessment report will be issued, presenting a diagnostic view of the
company’s level of maturity in sustainability practice, as well as areas where
the candidate performs well and areas where improvement is needed. Completing
the Sustainability Assessment will demonstrate a company’s commitment to
playing a leading role in industry sustainability performance, and help
strengthen deserved brand reputations.

About Green Council

The Green Council (GC) is a
non-profit environmental association and certification body based in Hong Kong.
Our founders have long envisioned that the environment must be protected not
only by the government or the general public, but by corporations as well. We
are striving to strengthen the image of Hong Kong as a city that gives high
importance to environmental protection and corporations ESG performance.

 

All proceeds from the
Sustainability Assessment will be applied towards Green Council’s current
environmental programme for schools and the general public, as well as research
in support of our climate change programmes and waste management initiatives.

 

For more information, see: www.greencouncil.org

 

For the Sustainability Assessment online platform,
see: https://www.greencouncil.org/sustainability

 

For event photos, please click HERE.