Mark Harper
2023 has been recorded as the warmest year in history. Extreme weather caused devastating droughts, wildfires, famine, floods, and heat waves with alarming frequency. The Global Stock Take report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at COP29, underscored the severity of the climate crisis, and the urgent need for global collective action. Meaningful climate action requires an enduring commitment from all sectors of society, with business needing to play an increasingly important role in the low carbon transition.
Swire Pacific’s approach to addressing the climate crisis starts with the sustainability of our own business. In 2020 we set ambitious targets and commitments: to be a net zero, water neutral, zero waste to landfill company—all by 2050. Three years into this journey, we remain steadfast in our commitment.
The total Swire Pacific climate footprint in FY23 is estimated to be 723 thousand tonnes of CO2e – an increase of 11% compared to FY22. This is largely due to ongoing business recovery from COVID-19 and expansion of Swire Coca-Cola into new markets. As our business continues to accelerate and grow, our reported progress in GHG emission reductions will not be linear. However, we remain confident in our ability to achieve our ambitious targets and our commitment to achieving net zero, as we further integrate our carbon reduction strategies across our operations. Using innovative technologies, driving operational efficiencies, introducing internal carbon pricing, and the use of renewable energy, we have achieved substantial reductions in our greenhouse gas emissions for operations covered by our 2030 target. Since the launch of SwireTHRIVE we have achieved a 30% reduction in our scope 1 and 2 emissions against a 2018 baseline.
Ensuring we are collecting high-quality, accurate data is vital to our reporting efforts. Accordingly, we are improving on our systems, processes, and internal controls to align them with the COSO ICSR Framework to ensure that our sustainability data that is reported is meaningful, well-defined, and verifiable, and that processes are appropriately documented.
To enhance our reporting and prepare for upcoming regulatory changes, we are also partnering with our operating companies and the Group Risk Management Department to prepare for gradually expanding the scope of external assurance to other ESG data points, seeking further alignment with voluntary standards such as the GRI Standards and ISSB.
We recognise that achieving our SwireTHRIVE targets and addressing the global sustainability challenges requires collective action. Therefore, we actively seek partnerships and collaborations with like-minded organisations, industry peers, and government agencies. By sharing knowledge, expertise, and resources through our partnerships like Drink Without Waste and our membership of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, we feel we can drive systemic change and accelerate the transition to a sustainable future.
Our annual sustainability report is not just a scorecard for our operations, it is also our roadmap to achieving our SwireTHRIVE commitments. We are excited by the journey and undaunted by the challenges that lie ahead. Collectively as a Group and in collaboration with our stakeholders we can deliver on our ambitions to be a leader in sustainability in all the sectors where we operate. As you read our report, we welcome your feedback, and your ideas on where we can do better.
Ajay Manissery Konchery
2023 was a year of ‘firsts’ for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) capability at Swire Pacific. We crossed the threshold of 30% women at the Board level for the first time. It was the year in which we piloted data based and analytical methods to further understand how DE&I, and especially inclusion, could be a driver of outcomes such as wellbeing and business output. We also initiated a Group-wide, comprehensive assessment for the first time, in partnership with Deloitte, which underscores our commitment to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace in which our employees experience belonging.
We ended 2023 with a clear conviction that Diversity & Inclusion alone, without a corresponding maturity and focus on Equity at the workplace would not bring the benefits we desire. Therefore, in 2024, we will emphasise the importance of equity at the workplace. This symbolic shift informs our investments and initiatives, and builds on the solid foundation around Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) that we built over the years.
This year, we aspire to make DE&I a key driver of our high performing workplaces and embed it meaningfully in our businesses, people practices and the daily experience of our employees at work. Increasing the connection of inclusion and equity to talent management, employee wellbeing, high performance teams and ultimately, to marketplace metrics of our operating companies is the journey we have embarked on. We are confident of pioneering initiatives in 2024 to enable this journey in a pragmatic, measurable, people-centric, customised and business-focused manner.
Wai Ching Cheung
Throughout our history, Swire Pacific has relied upon its heritage of trust, founded on sound governance, to reach its aspirations as a builder of communities and diverse businesses.
As economies recover from the pandemic, I am confident that our culture of integrity and accountability will continue to guide the business to seize opportunities in periods of uncertainty and volatility, without compromising the needs of the planet and its populations.
Our strong moral compass is guided by prudent risk management, including our focus on staff wellness, health, and safety. Demonstrating these principles day-to-day gives us the currency to pursue our SwireTHRIVE objectives, the accomplishments of which are encapsulated within this report. I look forward to collaborating with our stakeholders in building a more sustainable future, underpinned by effective governance.
Tina Chan
Since its launch in 2020, Swire’s TrustTomorrow initiative has funded more than 70 projects spanning Education, Marine Conservation and the Arts, and also gave a helping hand to those disadvantaged during the pandemic. Through an additional injection of HK$150 million to supercharge the Swire Trust’s philanthropic work, more than 100 NGOs were supported, and two million beneficiaries served in Hong Kong.
We were delighted to celebrate the fruits of the TrustTomorrow initiative towards the end of 2023, through a series of events to connect our NGOs with almost 10,000 stakeholders from the government, the philanthropic sector, our staff, and the wider public.
Across the Group, our operating companies continue to engage with their communities using their businesses, such as Swire Properties’ hugely popular annual “BOOKS for Love @$10” campaign in Hong Kong to support children’s welfare, and Swire Coca-Cola’s “Carbon Reduction Farmland” initiative in Chinese Mainland to create low-carbon communities that boosts rural revitalisation while preserving local characteristics.
Although the TrustTomorrow initiative concludes, its ‘connect the dots’ vision continues to prevail in how Swire conducts its philanthropic work. We look forward to continuing working with our community partners to sustain and amplify the impact into the future.