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Climate Change
Initiatives in Practice
Climate change risk identification
The Climate Change Policy establishes the change management strategy that will reduce emissions and waste, and most importantly, fosters the initiatives and methodologies to progressively reduce
our environmental footprint in future.
Our Policy is modelled on the UITP's sector-wide Greenhouse Gas Policy and Strategy introduced in 2006. As Chair of the Sustainable Development Commission within the UITP, MTR Corporation played
a significant role in leading the discussions on policy as well as contributing to a set of KPIs for operators when measuring and mitigating carbon footprints under the UITP initiatives. These indicators are expected to be issued in late 2008. This step forward supports the MOU between the UITP and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) signed in 2005 and tables the clear leadership role public transport can take in global climate change initiatives.
In December 2006, the Corporation issued its Climate Change Policy. The aim of the Policy is to work towards a positive impact on the global environment, and it is intended to apply consistently across all our businesses and in the diverse markets in which we operate. Under this policy we are committed to adapting and mitigating risks presented by climate change and becoming one of the most resource-efficient and ecologically sustainable railways and property-service providers in the world.
The key actions to be taken under the Policy are to assess the risks and opportunities posed by climate change and implement actions to mitigate those risks. We will work to reduce our direct carbon emissions in a targeted and continuous fashion and actively influence our energy providers to address the climate-change issue. As part of our commitment to change, we will report on achievements annually.
Several of the risks identified under the UITP's Policy and Strategy have been adopted and measured for impact under our internal ERM system. Resulting assessment, in particular the increase in electricity consumption, has prompted further actions aimed at better efficiency and tighter annual targets.
The Energy Management Committee drives the initiatives to manage electricity expenditure, our single largest energy issue. Having identified rail operations and property management as the biggest sources of GHG emissions, we have inaugurated several proactive actions, such as the USE (usage, staff and efficiency) programme for reduction. That is, we stringently control energy through optimisation, we educate staff to be energy-minded, and we employ technological innovations to upgrade existing assets' efficiency and performance. This programme influences several workplace initiatives across all divisions, including annual energy reviews conducted on our managed properties and the rail network energy optimisation programme.
The merger has prompted the large-scale review of energy efficiency and synergy opportunities within the KCR network benchmarked against MTR Corporation best practices. The subsequent study plans the improvement in the KCRC asset efficiencies from 2008 onwards. These include better train headway management, cars and equipment upgrades, and station energy-use audits.
MTR Corporation is the single largest electricity consumer in Hong Kong on a megawatt basis. Despite the economies of scale this presents, the influence on our upstream energy impacts is limited due to current government policy on franchised electricity generation and the subsequent duopoly of suppliers. At present, suppliers do not offer any significant alternative or green-energy choice to consumers. However, we publicly encourage their current studies in alternative fuel source technologies.
Anticipating the need for future efficiency, we are now addressing energy usage as a factor in the design of our capital works projects. Strategies include life-cycle costing issues, station and depot design to secure better efficiency and maintenance, and the more efficient uses of resources in construction. The South Island Line (East) will be our first rail project to integrate fully this project delivery strategy.
Discharges, Effluents and Waste
Improved efficiency in rail operations and property management continues to be the main focus area to manage better resources and reduce wastage.
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Air quality
No other environmental factor in Hong Kong has such vocal and visual impact as air quality. Within the public dialogue, we choose to take a quiet leadership role to help change this untenable situation.
We are a part of the solution to cleaner air within the territory. While vehicular traffic represents only a portion of the causes of the city's air pollution, the renewed impetus of focusing rail as the backbone of public transport supports the future sustainability of public transport infrastructure through emissions reduction and overall "cleaner" urban development. Refer to Society's Challenge and Value Strategy in this Report for our position in supporting Hong Kong's sustainable future.
Within our operations, Government Environmental Protection Department's (EPD) regulations serve as the minimum baseline in environmental management. We monitor and control air quality in all our stations on a frequent and regular basis. For the fourth year in a row, our stations have been 100% compliant to regulations. Air quality in our managed properties is continuously monitored against stringent internally set air-quality targets that exceed compliance to the EPD's recommended levels for indoor air quality.
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Water
Although we meet our licensing requirements for effluent discharge consistently, water management is reviewed regularly for better efficiency. Cross-divisional cooperation in usage of recycled water and reduction of clean water consumption are primary targets for the future. In such cooperation, a programme to recycle grey water from depots is in progress. A specially-built recycling plant adjacent to LOHAS Park has been finalised, which will supplement the irrigation of the 6.2 hectares of landscaped open spaces for this urban development.
- Waste management
All waste generated by our rail operations and businesses is managed under ISO14001 certification standards. Driving these standards and other internal targets down into the front-line are numerous programmes that progressively require reduction and efficiency. These include sorting at source and programmes for reuse, recycling and responsible disposal of waste from our offices, train depots and stations.
Our principal source of waste, being construction related, was negligible during 2007 due to relatively little construction in rail development. The WIL, using the PAS55-1 system, leverages our current series of contractors' targets that reward achievement beyond the specified requirements in reducing waste on site. In future, the same PAS55-1 system will impose a more stringent and life-cycle management approach that will steer resource management when planning, designing and developing new projects. The SIL will be the first rail line to fully utilise this system.
The many systems, programmes and external standards that drive our operations and provide the roadmap to achieve best practice are reported in our online sustainability discussions. These initiatives are supported by an archive of case studies that illustrate management in practice.
GRI Reporting – As in our previous year's Report, we elect to construct a supplement to the year's GRI Content Index which reports on our environmental performance using the G3 Guidelines. This supplement, the GRI Content Index for 2007 (using the 2002 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines) and our previous six year performance can be viewed online here.
Climate change risk identification
The Enterprise Risk Mangement (ERM) system is applied to assess our environmental risks in relation to climate change. The table represents assessed risks ranked within an E1- E4 rating framework.
The Enterprise Risk Committee monitors the development of the risks annually and evaluates if any of the risks need to be studied in greater detail. Post assessment, all risks will be allocated to relevant risk registers wherein the process of prioritisation, ownership, mitigation, monitoring and reporting is undertaken to manage each risk and its impacts. This management process is continuous and, like the ERM system, is sensitive and responsive to the changing business environment and to the influences of stakeholders, the natural environment also being a principal stakeholder.
