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The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee:
The presentation ceremony of the 2015 Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) and the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification (HKGOC) was held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre today (April 19) to commend over a hundred organisations for their green management practices and implementation of various effective and innovative energy-saving and waste reduction measures to conserve the environment. Organisations being certified as Hong Kong Green Organisations (HKGOs) in 2015 were also presented with certificates.
The HKAEE recognises organisations that have demonstrated an outstanding environmental performance across different sectors. The three judging criteria are green leadership, programme and performance, and partner synergy. The number of entries competing for the HKAEE reached a record high of 1 146 for the 2015 awards, which is more than a threefold increase compared with 2008 when the awards were first launched. A total of 55 organisations won gold, silver or bronze awards this year, with 123 winning certificates of merit.
The Hong Kong Green Innovations Award aims to encourage local organisations to meet environmental challenges with new ideas that will benefit the environment. The three assessment criteria are level of innovation, environmental achievements and cost-effectiveness, and practicability and contribution to society. The priority themes in 2015 were energy conservation and waste management. Among the 64 entries, one HKGIA and five certificates of merit were granted.
The HKGOC aims to benchmark the green performance of companies and organisations and encourage them to sustain their environmental initiatives in waste reduction, energy saving, carbon reduction, indoor air quality improvement and to strengthen environmental attributes in products.
Participating organisations are recognised as HKGOs if they can demonstrate environmental achievements such as possessing certificates under the HKGOC, winning HKAEE awards, signing any of the environment-related charters launched/supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government or possessing a valid ISO 14001 certificate. To date, over 700 organisations in 15 different industry sectors have attained HKGO status. At the ceremony today, representatives from 71 organisations which became HKGOs in 2015 were presented with certificates in recognition of their environmental achievements.
In his welcoming remarks the Chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC), Mr Lam Chiu-ying, said that the assessment process for the awards and certification was very rigorous and comprehensive. The final adjudications for 2015 HKAEE were chaired by Mr Bernard Chan; Mr Lam; and the Chairman of the Awards Committee on the HKAEE, Mr Thomas Ho. The adjudicating panels comprise representatives of major business chambers, professional bodies and government departments.
Also attending today's ceremony were the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing; the Chairman of the Environment and Conservation Fund Committee, Dr Joseph Lee; Mr Ho; the Permanent Secretary for the Environment/Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, and representatives of the joint organisers.
The HKAEE and HKGOC are jointly organised by the ECC; Environmental Protection Department; the Advisory Council on the Environment, Business Environment Council; the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce; the Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong; the Federation of Hong Kong Industries; the Hong Kong Chinese Importers' and Exporters' Association; the Hong Kong Council of Social Service; Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Productivity Council. The HKAEE and HKGOC are sponsored by Environment and Conservation Fund.
The 2016 HKAEE and HKGIA are now open for applications while the HKGOC accepts application all year round. The ECC will hold a number of seminars in May 2016 for winning organisations to share their experience of "going green". Organisations wishing to learn more about the HKAEE and HKGOC may obtain details at the seminars. For more information, please visit the website at www.hkaee.gov.hk or call the hotline 2788 5903.
Ends/Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Issued at HKT 20:19
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