HKAEE honours businesses for achieving environmental excellence (with photos)
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The Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) and Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification (HKGOC) Presentation Ceremony was held today (December 15) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, to commend winners for their outstanding performance in green management and their contributions to environmental protection. Winners of the 2022 Hong Kong Green Innovations Awards (HKGIA) and corporations certified as Hong Kong Green Organisations (HKGOs) in 2022 were also commended at the presentation ceremony. To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the HKAEE, three Special Awards, namely the Super Gold Award, the Most Outstanding Promotional Partner Award and the Long Participation Award, have been established this year to recognise the continual support and outstanding performance of the organisations over the years.
The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, congratulated the winning companies and organisations through a video speech at the ceremony. He commended the winners for their innovation and efforts in environmental protection, and recognised their outstanding contributions to a greener Hong Kong. He looks forward to the support from all sectors in collaborating with the Government to promote green innovation in pursuit of carbon neutrality for the country and Hong Kong.
The officiating guests of the ceremony included the Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan; the Chairman of the Environment and Conservation Fund Committee, Dr Eric Cheng; the Vice-chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC), Ms Jenny Li; the Awards Committee Chairman of the HKAEE, Dr Conrad Wong; the Convenor of the Education Working Group under the ECC, Mr Wong Chi-keung; and the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), Miss Janice Tse.
The HKAEE commends organisations that have demonstrated outstanding environmental performance in 14 different sectors. The three judging criteria are green leadership, programme and performance, and partner synergy. The HKGIA aims to encourage local organisations to tackle environmental challenges using new ideas that will benefit the environment. The three assessment criteria are level of innovation, environmental achievements, and practicability and contribution to society. After two rounds of assessment by the technical consultants, the participating companies/organisations were assessed by the final adjudicating panels comprising the ECC and representatives from major chambers of different sectors in Hong Kong for selection of the gold, silver and bronze winners.
The number of entries competing for the 2022 HKAEE reached a record high of 3 282, more than an eightfold increase compared with the figure for 2008, when the awards were launched. A total of 49 organisations won gold, silver or bronze awards this year, and 153 received certificates of merit. There were 80 entries in the 2022 HKGIA, a figure around five times higher than that of 2011 when the HKGIA was established. For the three 15th Anniversary Special Awards of the HKAEE, the Dairy Farm Company Limited - Wellcome was awarded the Super Gold Award for winning six gold awards in the past, the Seeding Green (Hong Kong) Limited was awarded the Most Outstanding Promotional Partner Award for partnering with a total of 45 companies in joining the HKAEE in the past, and 22 companies/organisations were awarded the Long Participation Award for joining the HKAEE continuously since 2008. To commend company management and employees for their dedication to enhancing the environmental performance of their respective companies and the community, five awardees were selected under the Outstanding Green Achiever Commendation Scheme. In addition, 17 organisations were honoured as Outstanding Promotional Partners. The detailed list of awardees can be accessed from the HKAEE website (www.hkaee.gov.hk).
The HKGOC aims to benchmark the green performance of organisations and encourages them to sustain their environmental initiatives in four major aspects, namely waste reduction, energy saving, carbon reduction and indoor air quality improvement by issuing them relevant certificates. Participating organisations can obtain the title of HKGO if they can demonstrate and attain certain environmental achievements such as winning HKAEE awards, signing any of the environment-related charters launched or supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government or possessing a valid ISO 14001 certificate. To date, over 3 100 organisations from different industries have obtained the HKGO status. At the ceremony today, representatives from 585 organisations which obtained the HKGO status in 2022 were presented with certificates in recognition of their environmental achievements.
The HKAEE and the HKGOC, with funding support from the Environment and Conservation Fund, are jointly organised by the ECC, the Environment and Ecology Bureau, the Advisory Council on the Environment, the 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, the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the Hong Kong Productivity Council.
Ends/Friday, December 15, 2023
Issued at HKT 18:30
Issued at HKT 18:30
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