Understanding the needs and concerns of our stakeholders informs our approach to sustainability and our future activity. Since 2007, we have engaged with stakeholders to understand their expectations and their perceptions of our sustainable development performance. Dialogue maintains trust, gains support for our activities and occasionally reconciles differing interests. It also helps us focus on areas for improvement so that we can take corrective action. We define stakeholders as internal and external interest groups who have a significant impact on our business or who are significantly affected by our operations.
We continue to engage with our investors and employees and with policymakers, NGOs, the communities in which we operate and other companies to inform our approach to sustainable development. Stakeholders are identified by reference to their expertise in issues material to us, their influence, and their willingness to collaborate. In 2021, we gathered targeted feedback on the refreshed SwireTHRIVE 2.0 strategy, by engaging 15 experts from academia, financial institutions, peer companies, and civil society through focus group discussion and one-on-one interviews.
In 2023, we commissioned an external consultancy to conduct engagement for our comprehensive double and dynamic materiality assessment, to ensure the material issues covered in this report continue to be relevant, and explore how topics may evolve.
Internal stakeholder input was acquired from Swire Pacific through 5 senior level interviews, topic expert focus group, and two sets of validation, which provided key insights into the impact of issues on Enterprise Value. External stakeholder input was also acquired through 10 one-on-one interviews with subject matter experts, which provided both quantitative and qualitative insight into the impact of issues on the environment and society.
Board members
Senior leadership
NGOs and activists
Investors
Peer companies and competitors
Industry associations and chambers of commerce
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“Being able to measure and
influence scope 3 emissions is crucial.”
Director on the Board of Swire Pacific |
 |
“The UN Plastics Treaty is
going to flow into national laws, and so there’ll be a lot
more scrutiny an accountability for
plastics.”
External stakeholder from an industry association |
 |
“The availability and quality
of water remain a key issue in the communities where Swire
Pacific operates, especially for the Properties and Beverage
business.”
External stakeholder from a peer company |
 |
“Given the size of its
workforce, there is significant potential for Swire Pacific
to make a positive influence on diversity, equity and
inclusion.”
External stakeholder from our investor community |
 |
“Swire interacts with various
aspects of people’s lives and there is so much potential to
connect people together for the benefit of local
communities.”
External stakeholder from an NGO |
Evolving issues
We focused on dynamic materiality by examining with our stakeholders, a number of trends that might significantly evolve or newly emerge. Climate change mitigation and Climate resilience, Natural capital and resource use, and Technology and innovation were highlighted as topics that are expected to increase in significance to the greatest degree. Change drivers include increases in regulatory pressure, stakeholder expectation, financial costs to manage these topics, and in the case of technology, the impact of artificial intelligence.
Global environmental agreements such as the Paris Agreement, the forthcoming UN Plastics Treaty and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework are expected to influence national laws where we do business. Corporate due diligence laws will heighten scrutiny on responsible sourcing practices. Locally, regulations on single-use plastics and municipal solid waste charging are prominent issues for Hong Kong regulators. New regulations are expected to have an impact on various material issues, for example, effective sustainability governance, responsible sourcing, and technological innovation.
We continue to engage with our investors and employees and with policymakers, NGOs, the communities in which we operate and other companies. We do this to understand how our operations impact on society and environment, and to foster communication and collaboration to address challenges.
Our operating companies engage their stakeholders to facilitate the delivery of solutions to shared challenges. Through Swire Coca-Cola’s active involvement in multi-stakeholder initiatives including Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, The Coca-Cola Company’s World Without Waste goals and local initiatives such as Drink Without Waste in Hong Kong, it is supporting transition to a circular system that minimises waste generation and associated carbon emissions reduction.
Swire Properties’ Green Performance Pledge (GPP) is centred around a performance-based agreement to deepen landlord-tenant partnerships from fit-out through operation. Its Green Kitchen Initiative provides a platform for portfolio management teams and tenants to have sustainability conversations before fit-out. It also engages tenants to offer free energy audits to help them identify energy-saving opportunities.
HAECO works with local partners where it operates to achieve common goals. This includes supporting the Hong Kong Airport Authority’s 2050 Net Zero Carbon Pledge and working with suppliers in pursuit of a low impact and highly sustainable supply chain.
Feedback we receive from stakeholders informs our approach to sustainable development strategy development, our policies, practices, and target setting. Stakeholders considered Talent attraction and retention, Employee wellbeing, and Workplace health and safety to be topics requiring strong management practices. Read about our management of these topics in People and Talent Management.
Governance of social issues included the topics of Labour practices and human rights and Responsible sourcing. Read about our management of these topics in Supply chain.
Community topics raised by our stakeholders included local development and income inequality. Read about our management of these topics in Communities.