Climate change: HSBC, CLP directors say corporate boards must take lead on driving sustainability practices, compliance
- Companies must change internal culture and set up governance systems to drive sustainability, top executives said at a governance conference on Wednesday
- The chairman of the Hong Kong Institute of Directors announced the launch of a local chapter of the Climate Governance Initiative
Companies must take a top-down approach to instil a mindset change, enlist external help and set up governance systems to mitigate climate risks and tap emerging opportunities, according to top executives at a Hong Kong Institute of Directors conference.
As the adverse impacts of climate change assert themselves globally, businesses and regulators need to step up efforts to ensure systems are in place for setting and revising strategies and goals, and for monitoring performance regularly, speakers said during the conference.
“Climate change is not just an initiative, it is a cultural change, and it is a very long journey,” Peter Wong Tung-shun, non-executive chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, the main Asia-Pacific subsidiary of HSBC Group, said at the conference, which took place on Wednesday.
“The board will be the guardian of this cultural change. We need leadership, we need to have well-established internal guidelines and compliance for consistent practice.”
Global greenhouse gas emissions need to be slashed by 45 per cent by 2030 to have any hope of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, so that global warming can be contained at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels to avert disastrous economic and social consequences, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday.