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The following is issued on behalf of the Sustainable Development Council:
Five projects, covering sustainability reporting, cultural preservation and low-carbon manufacturing initiatives, were approved under the Sustainable Development Fund to promote public awareness and adoption of principles of sustainable development, the Chair of the Education and Publicity Sub-committee under the Sustainable Development Council, Mr Michael Lai, said today (July 2).
These projects show a clear integration of the key tenets of sustainable development, including community/stakeholder involvement, social cohesion, climate change and corporate social responsibility, in a balanced and practical way and will last from 12 to 24 months. A total of $5.4 million was granted by the Fund this time round.
The five approved projects are:
* "Sustainable Development of Heritage and Cultural Project at Old District of Yau Ma Tei" by Hulu Culture Limited – $1,160,200 over a period of 24 months. The project aims to revitalise the old district of Yau Ma Tei and boost the local economy by promoting the importance of cultural heritage conservation through the implementation of a series of activities in the district.
* "CSR Guide for SMEs in Hong Kong" by CSR Asia – $761,948 over a period of 12 months. The project aims to develop a corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidebook, in English and Chinese online versions as a practical resource and toolkit for Hong Kong's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to understand and adopt CSR practices, as well as to enrich CSR initiatives in their business operations.
* "Guide to 'Better Corporate Social Responsibility' for Apparel Industry – SME Version" by the Clothing Industry Training Authority – $670,000 over a period of 18 months. The project aims to develop a framework for sustainability reporting based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) for SMEs in the textile and apparel industry in the form of a guidebook with a view to encouraging them to start their own CSR initiatives and generate sustainability reports.
* "Customised Sustainability Framework to Assist SMEs to Achieve Sustainability" by the Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business Limited – $857,030 over a period of 12 months. The project aims to develop a framework for sustainability reporting based on the internationally applicable GRI G3 for SMEs in the manufacturing sector, in particular for four industries contributing a large portion of Hong Kong's total export value, namely, the toys, electronics, garment and watches and clocks industries.
* "Low-Carbon Manufacturing Programme Workshops: Sustaining Your Business in a Carbon-constrained Economy" by World Wide Fund for Nature Hong Kong – $1,986,822 over a period of 24 months. The project aims to conduct workshops for managerial staff in the manufacturing industry to deepen their knowledge of climate change-related issues with a view to facilitating them to develop Combat Climate Change Action Plans focusing on reducing carbon emissions in the manufacturing process.
"Among the five approved projects, three are projects on developing guidebooks for sustainability reporting for various manufacturing and service industries. This will enable SMEs to embed CSR principles into their business strategy and adopt sustainable practices or CSR initiatives in their business operations with a view to producing sustainability reports to showcase the outcome of their performance from sustainable development perspectives. Another is a community project promoting the cultural heritage of the old district of Yau Ma Tei while fostering social cohesion and boosting the local economy. And yet another project is to empower manufacturers to develop Combat Climate Change Action Plans leading to the adoption of sustainable measures to reduce carbon emissions in the manufacturing process," Mr Lai said.
"We believe that they will become a project model for wider dissemination of the sustainable development message and for creating a greater impact on the industries concerned, as well as the general public," he added.
The $100-million Fund was set up in 2003 to support community initiatives for promoting the concept of sustainable development. Practical projects and educational programmes that help raise public awareness of the principles of sustainable development and encourage sustainable practices are encouraged to apply to the Fund. The latest call for applications was the seventh, with a total of 66 proposals received.
"This brings the total number of approved projects that have received grants from the Fund to 38 and the amount involved to $35.1 million. This is an encouraging step forward in promoting sustainable development in Hong Kong," Mr Lai said.
The Fund will be open for the next round of applications in mid 2010. Applications from non-government and community organisations as well as individuals are welcome.
Details of the approved projects in the latest round of applications, as well as projects funded by the scheme, can be accessed on www.susdev.gov.hk.
Ends/Friday, July 2, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:44
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