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    Our objectives

    We aim to be a domestic leader in reducing the environmental impact of our daily operations by adopting a smart environmental policy and offering customers a wider range of green business and sustainable finance solutions to promote environmental stewardship.

    Key figures

    2023 Target Reduction on electricity consumption: 10%[1] (reduced by 15% as of December 2022)

    2023 Target Reduction on GHG (Scope 1 and 2) emissions[2] :7.5%[3] (reduced by 28.6% as of December 2022)

    Highlights

    Green Business and Sustainable Finance

    Green Business and Sustainable Finance

    We provide sustainable financing services to help our customers’ transition to low-carbon economy. In addition, we manage the Bank’s credit risk exposure to climate-sensitive sectors.

    • We Introduced green mortgage and Electric Vehicle loans on June 2022 to promote sustainable development and contribute to a low carbon future
    • We rolled out another wave of “Hang Seng Green Moments” with the initiative to “Shop Green” on July 2022
    • We rolled out the digital loan drawdown instructions for Business e-banking and Hang Seng HSBCnet, to enable eligible customers to submit their loan drawdown instructions and upload the supporting documents online
    • We continued to offer green loans and sustainability-linked loans to support our corporate customers for their green projects and in achieving their sustainability performance targets in 2022
    • We rolled out the green deposit programme, which is designed to provide corporate customers with access to means for investing their surplus deposits into environmentally-friendly projects and industries, while earning a stable interest
    • Hang Seng Indexes Company launched the Hang Seng Climate Change 1.5°C Target Index on May 2022, which can provide a benchmark for investors who are interested in integrating climate considerations into their investment portfolios
    • As on December 2022, Hang Seng Indexes has compiled 18 ESG-related Indexes
    • Hang Seng Investment Management Limited launched the first ESG exchange-traded fund based on the Hang Seng index in 2022
    • We have onboarded new sustainable investment products, covering investment funds in 2022

    Overview

    To protect the planet for present and future generations, we are endeavouring to optimise the use of resources. We aim to conduct our business in an environmentally-conscious manner and advocate for good practices in our value chain.

    We aim to reduce carbon emissions from our own operations to net zero by 2030. Accordingly, we have established targets to reduce our electricity consumption, greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 1 and 2) and to source electricity from renewable energy schemes hosted by local providers.

    We have also set our 2023 targets for water consumption, paper consumption, and waste diversion and reduction.

    For details, please refer to our Environmental, Social and Governance Report 2022.

    Greening our buildings

    • As Hong Kong’s first domestic bank to attain ISO 14001 certification for all our offices and branches, we strive to lead by example in supporting the transition to a low carbon economy. With an environmental policy in place, we monitor our EMS and ensure its ongoing compliance with the ISO 14001 standards
    • We have undertaken our workplace enhancement programme at some of our workplaces. Eight office floors were renovated in 2022 and our office area could be reduced by more than 100,000 sq. ft.
    • The infrastructure and interior design of Hang Seng 113 office building is focused on energy efficiency, so that over the life of the building, energy usage and GHG emissions are minimised
    • We have participated in the Quality Water Supply Scheme for Buildings, administered by Hong Kong’s Water Supplies Department. Bleed-off water from the cooling towers of air conditioning system is reused for toilet flushing in Hang Seng 113 office building

    Greening our customer communications

    • 75.6% of retail customer statements and advice slips sent via electronic channels in 2022
    • 95% of personal banking customer transactions processed via digital channels in 2022
    • 38% of customers with investment activities performed transactions via digital channels in 2022
    • 90% of commercial banking customer transactions processed via digital channels in 2022, which saved about 15.9 million sheets of paper
    • 92.6% of shareholders adopted our e-communication services in 2022

    Advocating for the environment

    As a listed company in Hong Kong, we strive to minimise the negative environmental impact of our business activities. In 2022, examples of our work in this area included:

    • In support of the government’s climate action, three of our office buildings and some of our larger branches have enrolled in the Energy Saving Charter 2022 scheme and the 4T Charter scheme
    • We switched off external lighting at three of our office buildings, including the Bank’s logo and other billboards from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm to participate in EARTH HOUR 2022 on 26th March 2022
    • For second year in a row, we continued to be the title-sponsor of the “2022 ESG and Green Finance Opportunities Forum” organised by the Chamber of Hong Kong Listed Companies. Over 200 business leaders and ESG experts gathered at the forum to discuss how to navigate climate risks and to finance climate actions that can support a more sustainable future
    • We continued to provide support to the corporate membership programmes of the World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong and Business Environment Council
    • A number of staff members have been trained as Green Ambassadors to support the implementation of our environmental management system. They are also raising awareness of environmental matters among their colleagues, families and friends, and provide regular updates on relevant policies and measures
    • We rolled out a series of self-designed ESG comics and bite-sized video with interactive quizzes to enhance our staff’s understanding of the Bank’s newly launched ESG measures in an interesting and memorable way

    Climate risk management

    • Our climate risk appetite supports the oversight and management of the financial and non-financial risks from climate change, meets regulatory expectations and supports the business to deliver our climate ambition in a safe and sustainable way
    • We developed new climate risk metrics to cover our retail mortgage portfolio in Hong Kong
    • We enhanced our corporate transition questionnaire and scoring tool to clients in high transition risk sectors
    • We developed our internal climate stress testing and scenarios capability, including model development and delivery regulatory climate stress tests
    • In 2022, we have updated policies and incorporated climate considerations into our new money request proces

    Environmental awards

    • Hang Seng 113 office building was recommended by the U.S. Green Building Council as one of the supporting organisation that have been shortlisted for the “Greater Bay Area Low Carbon Buildings Top 100 Award” in 2022
    • We were awarded as the winner of the Hong Kong RICS Award for the Facilities Management Team of the Year in 2022
    • We currently hold the Gold Class Fresh Water Award for our headquarters as well as the Silver Class Fresh Water and the Gold Class Flushing Water awards for Hang Seng 113 office building
    • We were recognised by the Renewable Energy Contribution Award in the Smart Energy Awards 2022. It is the fourth consecutive year that the Bank has received this recognition

    Progress update

    Environmental highlights in 2022:

    • Set up food waste collection point and decomposer at our headquarters to convert food waste to sewage and divert to the drainage system
    • Transitioned the use of PVC to rPVC for newly issued credit cards and ATM cards to reduce carbon emissions in procurement and operations
    • Reduce our office area by >100,000 sq. ft. to minimise our carbon footprint
    • Funded a one-year carbon sequestration research project of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University to evaluate the potential effectiveness of oyster farming as a nature-based solution
    • Purchased renewable energy equivalent to 30% of the Bank's annual electricity consumption in 2022
    • Launched various green products, such as, mobile cheque deposit, green deposit, green mortgage and green electric vehicle loan
    • 92.6% of our shareholders adopted our e-communication services

    Useful links

    Footnote

    Remark(s)

    1. Environmental operation data in 2023 is compiled from the Bank’s operation data from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023
    2. Excluding the carbon emissions reduction resulting from the purchase of renewable energy certificates from local electricity providers
    3. Environmental operation data in 2023 is compiled from the Bank’s operation data from 1 October 2022 to 30 September 2023