In view of the growing importance of addressing the worldwide issue of sustainability as well as the shift in consumers awareness and preferences towards sustainable products, The Hong Kong Management Association launched the Hong Kong Sustainability Award in 2016 as a long-term initiative to promote sustainability. Now on it 3rd edition, the biennial award has garnered ever wider recognition and relevance amongst organizations of all sizes and industries.
Rising above in the New World
Sustainability initiatives are paramount to an organization’s survival in today’s drastically changing and increasingly complex global business environment. It has been proven by research that these initiatives can assist an organization in improving their financial performance by seizing new markets, managing risks and augmenting capital returns.
Sustainable development is the new frontier of businesses and organizations, with its focus gradually expanded over the years from just the environment to include social equity, economic, and governance. Regardless of a company’s size, scale or nature of business, sustainability should be a staple to its operations and culture. This year’s contestant entries for the Hong Kong Sustainability Award have skyrocketed even amidst the pandemic, and due to the rising prevalence and the climbing number of applicants, the award is set to become an annual occurrence from 2022 onward.
Dr Delman Lee, Organizing Committee Chairman of the Hong Kong Sustainability Award, highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration and agility as well as resilience under the new normal. Numerous industries are moving from traditional energy to renewable energy, while also improving on their company’s ESG performance. The pandemic has brought about vast initiatives related to community healthcare and staff care. Dr Lee observed that the hardest challenge is the systemic change in how businesses can thrive in a sustainable economy. This economic change ties closely with government policies and regulations. He hopes the winning companies can help strengthen and drive the city’s economy as well as the most vulnerable parts of our community.
The Board and Panel
Dr Lee considered it an immense honour to work with members of the Board of Examiners and Panel of Judges, many of whom are C-level executives holding the most senior management positions and well-respected sustainability experts. The award provides a platform for organizations to benchmark their sustainability efforts against the best practices, while bestowing public recognition to business leaders and sustainability experts for their significant contribution to the sustainable development of their organizations as well as to the business community at large.
A Champion’s Influential Power
One of the key features of the award, according to Dr Lee, is the highly comprehensive and extensive questionnaire that all award applicants are required to fill in. “It covers all three dimensions of sustainability, namely Economic, Environmental and Social dimensions in close to 60 questions and easily runs well beyond 30 pages once it’s been filled up. The majority of those who have been through this process told us that although it took them more than a month’s hard work to fill in the questionnaire, the experience itself is highly rewarding as it provides them with a chance to reflect on their organization’s sustainability approach from a variety of angles”, said Dr Lee, who added that “We hope that by recognizing those who have made impressive progress along their sustainability journeys, more organizations will be inspired to embark on and accelerate their own journeys, and that the award will help unite such forces and drive them towards causes that bring both business and social benefits.”
Dr Delman Lee, Organizing Committee Chairman of the Hong Kong Sustainability Award
