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• Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

  The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) tackle the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time. As a responsible company, we pledge to protect the planet, and support stable and thriving societies. We identified four of the seventeen SDGs that are most relevant to us and that enable us to have the greatest impact. We aim to align our longer-term objectives with these goals.

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  Relevance of SDGs to Our Business Strategy   View  Close

  SDGs

  How We Help

  

  • Provide access to safe, effective and high-quality care and medical treatment
  • Reduce environmental impacts through proper handling of emissions including greenhouse gas, air and water, etc.
  • Enhance customer experiences by improving quality and wellness of our services

  

  • Contribute to economic growth
  • Enhance economic productivity through business diversification, technological upgrades and innovation
  • Provide employment and decent work for women and men, including young people and those with disabilities, and provide equal opportunity and pay for work of equal value
  • Protect labour rights and provide safe and secure working environments for all employees

  

  • Provide safe road, sustainable and quality transport networks for the wider community and improve road safety
  • Enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization, enabling people to feel a sense of community
  • Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban and rural areas by strengthening local and regional development planning
  • Environmental conservation

  

  • Promote the development, transfer, and dissemination of environmentally sound technologies to communities in need
  • Support effective and targeted capacity-building in communities for the implementation of SDGs
  • Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships
• Sustainability Targets
  Environmental Targets

  In 2020, we have announced our Environmental Targets for financial year (FY) 2030. Using FY2013 data as the baseline, our group-wide targets are to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity by 50%, energy intensity by 50% and water intensity by 30%, and to achieve at least 90% reuse of construction and demolition (C&D) materials by FY2030. These targets demonstrate our long-term commitment to being part of a low-carbon economy.

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  Social Targets

  In 2020, we have introduced quantifiable social targets to promote caring and wellness by accumulating over 20 million beneficiaries by FY2030. Using FY2015 data as the baseline, these social targets could guide us in conducting our business and activities in ways that create shared value for our customers and related stakeholders.

  

  Refer to the latest Sustainability Report for the status of targets' progress.

• Our Sustainability Management Framework

  We believe that business success depends on sustainable development and creating shared value with our stakeholders. We are keenly aware of the impact our operations can have on the environment and communities if not properly managed. We therefore strive to contribute to the sustainable development of our business and society, going above and beyond compliance with laws and regulations. To oversee our sustainable development, we have a well-established framework of policies, dedicated committees and management systems. Together, these ensure we uphold our values of integrity, equity and transparency. We conduct regular policy and process reviews, staff training and communications, to ensure our approach to sustainability is well communicated and implemented.

  Sustainability
  Framework

  • Sustainability Governance
  • Sustainability in Practice

  • Capacity Building
  • Performance
    Review and Reporting
• Sustainability Governance

  The Board of Directors of NWS Holdings (the "Board"), as the highest governance body of the Group, takes ultimate responsibility for business sustainability and plays a pivotal role in driving long-term growth. The NWS Sustainability Committee is a board-level committee chaired by our Chief Executive Officer. It sets the overarching Group's sustainability strategy, framework and policies, make strategic decisions on sustainability management and oversee their implementation.

  The Group's policies and guidelines reflect our vision, mission and core values, which are fundamental to our business success. For more information, please refer to our Policies and Guidelines in this website.

  Sustainability Policy

  Our Sustainability Policy applies to NWS Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries, collectively referred to as "the Group". Given our diverse business portfolio, business development in new industries and growing geographical footprint, it is important that the Group has a clear and comprehensive statement of its commitments to guide sustainability practices across its operations.

  Built upon the Group's vision, mission and core values and developed with reference to the ten principles of United Nations Global Compact, this Policy provides top-down direction covering every aspect of our businesses.

• Sustainability in Practice

  Our business spans a diverse range of industries, and we have varied levels of ownership and operational control over the entities in which we have a stake. We are progressively increasing consideration of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in our investment strategies, even for business units that are not currently covered by our Sustainability Report. We are constantly improving our approach to ESG and encouraging sustainability stewardship in our investment portfolio.

  NWS Sustainability Committee

  • NWS Volunteer
    Alliance
  • NWS Holdings
    Charities Foundation
  • Environmental
    Management Committee
  • Sports and Recreation
    Committee

  We work with our employees, business partners and customers to minimize our impact on the environment. Our Sustainability Committee is supported by four groups or sub-committees. Under the supervision of the Committee, our sustainability department focuses on driving Group-wide initiatives on sustainability across our business units, while business units supplement with its own plan that aligns with the Groups’ overall sustainability strategy based on business nature to incorporate ESG-related practices into operation. With innovation as one of our core values, we strive to invent new ways and processes that benefit our business operation, community and environment.

• Capacity Building

  As we integrate sustainability into our decision making process and operations, we continually provide and strengthen sustainability awareness and knowledge to our staff through training at various levels.

  At the corporate level, we ensure our staff is well aware of our in-house policies on sustainability governance. We collaborate closely with our parent company, New World Development Company Limited, to offer training, particularly on personnel development and corporate governance at the wider New World Group level. Trade-specific training is provided at the business-unit level to suit their operational needs, such as the provision of green building certification training for our construction business.

  In addition to professional training, we supplement awareness training (e.g. visits, green activities, etc.) to staff in general on a range of topics, from resource conservation to emerging environmental issues to recycling technologies. Among which, the NWS Sustainability Seminar is our annual signature event that serves as a platform to share with managerial staff from across the Group on topical sustainability issues.

• Performance Review and Reporting
  Stakeholder Engagement

  Dialogue with our stakeholders is essential to building valuable relationships that have a direct impact on our business success. We maintain ongoing engagement and open dialogue with our key stakeholders, including employees and external stakeholders, so that we understand their expectations and views on how we manage sustainable development. We use various platforms to invite feedback to help us understand stakeholders' concerns and expectations, and ensure these views are passed on to the right functionaries within the Group who are best placed to act on them.

  Key Stakeholder Groups and Communication Channels   View  Close

  Stakeholder Groups

  Topics of Concern

  Communication Channels

  Employees

  • Corporate culture
  • Group or company business and policy updates
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Remuneration and benefits
  • Training and development
  • Working conditions

  • Intranet and company mobile apps
  • Management briefings, e.g. “Town Hall” meetings
  • Sustainability Seminar
  • Executive directors’ luncheons
  • Staff newsletter e.g. New Voice

  Clients and Customers

  • Compliance with laws and regulations
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Sustainability aspects of products and services
  • Pricing
  • Service quality

  • Customer satisfaction surveys
  • Hotlines
  • Social media and company websites

  Supply Chain Partners

  • Construction site safety
  • Product and service specifications and quality
  • Labour rights and environmental protection
  • Innovative solutions

  • Supplier Code of Conduct
  • Tendering and procurement processes
  • Regular management-partner meetings
  • Collaboration sessions
  • Site audits

  Government

  • Service quality
  • Transportation fares and scheduling
  • Compliance with laws and regulations

  • Project meetings

  Local Community

  • Construction impacts on nearby neighbourhoods
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Transportation fares and scheduling
  • Customer safety and satisfaction

  • District Council meetings
  • Site visits

  Trade and Industry Associations

  • Experience and best-practice sharing
  • Labour issues
  • Market trends
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Environmental issues

  • Membership/representation in trade and industry associations
  • Seminars and conferences

  Shareholders and Investors

  • Financial, economic and operating performance
  • Growth strategies and business prospects
  • Sustainability/ ESG approach

  • Annual and interim reports
  • Annual general meetings and results announcements
  • Roadshows and briefings
  • Analyst meetings

  Media

  • Business performance and new opportunities
  • Community investment
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Environmental performance
  • Labour issues
  • Health and safety
  • Transportation fares and scheduling

  • Press conferences
  • Press releases
  • Communication events, e.g. luncheons

  NGOs

  • Community investment
  • ESG performance
  • Key sustainability trends

  • Partnership programmes
  • Sponsorships and donations
  • Award schemes

  Academia

  • New technologies
  • Recruitment and job opportunities
  • Training
  • Transportation fares and scheduling

  • Partnership programmes
  • Internships
  • Student research projects
  • Workshops and seminars

  
  Materiality Assessment Result   View  Close

  
  

  In FY2021, we drew on key issues identified in previous assessments, and refreshed our understanding by inviting stakeholders to share their feedback on current and emerging risks as well as opportunities to our business and the communities in which we operate. We also undertook a comparative study, noting the priority issues identified by industry peers to ensure that no emerging trends affecting the industry are overlooked.

  The vast majority of participating stakeholders were based in Hong Kong and the Mainland where the Group’s businesses are based. They included:

  • 250 internal stakeholders, including senior management, middle management and general staff across business units
  • Over 90 external stakeholders, including service providers, non-profit organizations, peer companies, financial institutions, suppliers, customers and academic and professional institutions

  The outcome of our FY2021 materiality assessment process is a refreshed materiality matrix as shown, with priority issues that internal and external stakeholders rated at various levels of importance for the Group to consider in its sustainability efforts and investments. The relevant disclosures and discussions could be found in our latest Sustainability Report.

  Materiality Matrix 2021

  

  
  KPI Performance monitoring and review

  We measure the Group's performance against our objectives on sustainability, and against international and industry standards. It also enables us to identify the Group's strengths and weaknesses, learning from best practices for continuous performance.

  Sustainability Reporting

  To increase our transparency and accountability, the Group publishes a standalone sustainability report annually. Since 2014, the sustainability report has been prepared with reference to the Global Reporting Initiative Standards (GRI): Core options, and satisfies the requirement of the Environmental, Social and Governance Reporting Guide issued by the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.

  We welcome your feedback and suggestions as we continue to improve our sustainability performance.

  Read our latest report