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The following is issued on behalf of the Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) :
The 2009 Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) were officially launched today (March 27) by the Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai.
Also at today¡¯s ceremony, awards were presented to the winners of the 2008 HKAEE Sectoral Awards.
The HKAEE aims to encourage businesses and organisations to adopt green management and presents them with an opportunity to benchmark their commitment to environmental protection. It is a merger and extension of three former government-initiated schemes, the Hong Kong Eco-Business Awards, the Wastewi$e Scheme and the Hong Kong Energy Efficiency Awards.
All businesses and organisations and their functional units operating primarily in Hong Kong are eligible to participate in the scheme, consisting of the Sectoral Awards and Environmental Labels.
Under the 2008 HKAEE, Sectoral Awards were granted to organisations which had demonstrated all-round and outstanding environmental performance in an annual competition in seven designated sectors - Construction Industry; Financial Institutions; Hotels, Restaurants and Catering Companies; Property Management; Retailers; Transport and Logistics; and Public Sector and NGOs. The assessment criteria included ¡°Green Leadership¡±, ¡°Programme and Performance¡± and ¡°Partner Synergy¡±.
A spokesman for the ECC said 366 entries competed for the Sectoral Awards in the 2008 HKAEE. Winners of the Sectoral Awards were selected from a two-stage assessment process, followed by the final adjudication by panels chaired by Professor Lap-chee Tsui, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong, and comprising representatives from various trade associations, professional bodies and government departments.
A total of 23 Gold, Silver, Bronze and SME Awards; and 50 Certificates of Merit of the 2008 HKAEE Sectoral Awards were presented to the companies and organisations. Display panels of winners are set up at the venue to demonstrate their environmental achievements.
Environmental Labels will be granted to participants who have attained a prescribed number of specific environmental goals. Participants may apply for one or more of the four labels: waste reduction (for ¡°Wastewi$e¡± Label), energy saving (for ¡°Energywi$e¡± Label), indoor air quality (for ¡°IAQwi$e¡± Label) and product life-cycle (for ¡°Productwi$e¡± Label). Each of the labels is divided into the classes of ¡°Good¡± and ¡°Excellence¡± in accordance with the number of specific environmental goals attained.
The spokesman said the response to the Environmental Labels in the 2008 HKAEE was so overwhelming with more than 2,000 applications received.
Also officiating at today¡¯s ceremony were the Chairman of the Environmental Campaign Committee, Mr Joseph Lee, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, the Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Ms Anissa Wong, the Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Hong Kong, Professor Lap-chee Tsui, and representatives of the nine joint organisers.
The spokesman said the support of the joint organisers was also crucial to the success of the inaugural HKAEE.
¡°In particular, the chairmen of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers¡¯ Association of Hong Kong, Federation of Hong Kong Industries and Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce appear in a video to appeal for participation in the HKAEE,¡± he said.
Under the 2009 HKAEE, the Sectoral Awards Scheme will be extended to two new sectors of ¡°Manufacturing¡± and ¡°Schools¡±. The Carbon¡°Less¡± Certificate Scheme will be introduced to encourage and recognise the efforts made by companies and organisations in reducing their carbon footprint.
The HKAEE is jointly organised by the ECC, Environmental Protection Department, Advisory Council on the Environment, Business Environment Council, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, the Chinese Manufacturers¡¯ Association of Hong Kong, Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Hong Kong Chinese Importers¡¯ & Exporters¡¯ Association, the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Productivity Council. The scheme is sponsored by the Environment and Conservation Fund.
A number of information sessions will be conducted in April and May to brief interested organisations on the details of the scheme. For more information on the scheme, please visit our website on www.hkaee.org.hk.
For enquiries please call the Secretary to the ECC, Mr Francis Wong, at 2835 1212.
Ends/Friday, March 27, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:00
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