Sustainability is vital for both existing and new racecourses, experts tell the Asian Racing Conference

Mimi Cunningham, Director of Human Resources and Sustainability at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and Koji Katsumi, Head of Environmental Measures at the Japan Racing Association, explained to delegates at the 35th Asian Racing Conference in Hong Kong that conserving precious resources by a whole range of initiatives is already part of racecourses’ daily operations.

In a session entitled: ‘Racecourses and environmental sustainability’, ARC delegates were also addressed by Andrew James, a director of Populous, a global collective of architects concentrating on sports design, who outlined the latest thinking in this area with relevance to new racecourses.

“Sustainability is embedded in the culture and processes of the Hong Kong Jockey Club,” explained Mrs Cunningham, who heads the Environmental Management Committee at the Club. Her team has published two biennial sustainability reports, the most recent covering the period 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2013.

“The Committee oversees green governance, which takes in carbon footprint, electricity consumption, supply chain management, green best practices and waste management plus water and resources conservation,” she added.

The HKJC, together with the Hong Kong Quality Assurance Agency, established the first online platform in Hong Kong to report carbon emissions and progress in reducing them. “The HKJC has achieved a reduction in carbon intensity by 23.3% on our base year of 2009/10 and the Hong Kong Carbon Disclosure ePlatform aims to allow sharing of best practices,” said Mrs Cunningham.

She continued: “We want to enhance public awareness of sustainability via our sphere of influence and to be a catalyst in driving Hong Kong towards a sustainable future.”