Only 2% of Organisations in Hong Kong Are Leading in ESG

• Hong Kong organisations are lagging in ESG and sustainability.
• People have trust issues regarding the sustainability areas of their organisations.

A recent study by the Sandpiper Global Reputation Capital Index 2024 reveals that Hong Kong organisations are not faring well in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and sustainability performance.

Organisations globally and in Hong Kong are grappling with managing their reputation concerning ESG and sustainability. Only 2 per cent of organisations in Hong Kong and 9 per cent globally are performing well in this area.

A classification was done based on their reputation management performance: Aspirants (54%), Beginners (3%), Followers (32%), and Trailblazers (12%).

Situation in Hong Kong

Even though 86 per cent of organisations in Hong Kong consider ESG and sustainability as reputational factors, only 31 per cent say they are confident or strong in these areas.

Just 43 per cent of Hong Kong organisations produce regular ESG or sustainability reports, while only 13 per cent have a dedicated team handling sustainability efforts.

Issues in Communication

• 68 per cent of people have doubts regarding sustainability and ESG endeavours of their organisations.
• Only a few organisations (20%) have specific strategies to communicate about sustainability issues such as climate change.
• About 34 per cent say their ESG plans align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

Emma Smith, Sandpiper CEO, said: "Amid increasing sustainability issues globally and as we approach the mid-point of the decade of action, the findings are clear that more needs to be done to advance sustainability goals. As stakeholder activism grows and greenwashing regulations increase, organisations that are unprepared risk being caught off guard and experiencing major reputational damages."

For a detailed view of the study, click here.

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Source: FutureCIO