To enable a better, safer and more interconnected world, SGS provides the world’s most comprehensive range of sustainability services. Whatever the size of the organization, they help them to implement more efficient processes, address risks and stakeholder concerns, and accomplish their sustainability goals. Having customers from multinational companies to SMEs across the supply chain from upstream to downstream, Billy Lai, the Deputy Director of Knowledge Solutions, SGS, shared his insights on the key sustainability challenges in Hong Kong and the corresponding actions:
What is the observation on the current sustainability development trend in Hong Kong?
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are a major contributor to climate change, and they come from a variety of sources, including transportation, energy production, and industrial processes. As such, it is important for companies to understand their own emissions and take steps to reduce them. Due to an increasing number of global retailers pledging to decrease their total greenhouse gas emissions, which includes scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions, many vendors and trading offices located in Hong Kong are also obligated to comply with these requests for their manufacturing sites located in China and other Asia Pacific countries.
What are the key sustainability challenges that Hong Kong customers are facing, and what are needed to overcome these challenges?
While it may be challenging for many vendors and trading offices in Hong Kong to disclose their GHG emissions data, there are many reasons why they should consider doing so. By analyzing their emissions data, offices and manufacturing sites can identify areas for improvement, build trust with customers, and comply with regulatory requirements. While there may be challenges associated with disclosure, these can often be addressed through careful planning, communication and by utilizing available digital applications available in the market. Ultimately, by disclosing their emissions data, vendors and trading offices can demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and help to create a more sustainable future for all.
How can the customer overcome these challenges and any examples?
It is crucial for vendors and trading offices in Hong Kong to educate and involve their suppliers in complying with the demand for disclosing Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data. To ensure that suppliers provide accurate and consistent emissions data, it is important to establish clear reporting requirements and provide regular feedback on the quality of the data provided. This can help to ensure that emissions data is reliable and can be used to inform decision-making. There are a variety of digital tools and platforms that can be used to streamline the process of collecting and analyzing supply chain emissions data. These tools can help to automate data collection, identify areas for improvement, and track progress over time. Taking the S-Carbon platform from SGS as an example, it is a comprehensive digital carbon management platform that is user-friendly and powerful to compute companies’ entire value-chain GHG emissions and help organizations to implement carbon reduction plans cost-effectively.