Decide on Your Organization’s Objectives of Reporting
Appoint Responsible Persons
Indentify Your Target Audiences, their Needs and Expectations
Decide on Report Format and Style
Decide on the Timing of Publication
Report Framework and Content (Chapter 3)
Plan Report Framework and Contents
Report Preparation (Chapter 4)
Gather Information and Data
2a. Design Report
2b. Write Report
Obtain Internal Approval
Decide on Distribution Strategy
Print and Release Report
Possible Follow-ups (Chapter 5)
Invite Feedback
The general steps for preparing an EPR are
presented in the flow chart above and highlighted below. These steps are
further elaborated in Chapters 1 to 5 in EPD's A
Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
(hereby referred to as the COER Guide). At the end of each sub-section
of this Step-by-Step Guide, a hyperlink to the relevant chapter of the
COER Guide is provided for direct referencing. You are highly recommended
to make use of the ideas provided in the COER Guide.
The ultimate aim of your EPR is to report on the yearly environmental performance of
your department/bureau/organization and to demonstrate how commitments stated in your Environmental Policy
have been fulfilled. As there are many ways to prepare your EPR, it will be advantageous to start by
pinpointing the most suitable approach for your department/bureau/organization. Factors to consider at this
stage include your organization's key objectives of reporting, responsible persons involved, target audiences
and their expectations, a suitable report format and style, and the timing for the issuance of the report.
To get started, it is also useful to establish a report production programme to guide
the initial planning process. This programme should clearly identify the areas and issues to be reported on,
the information to be gathered and prepared, the personnel that will be leading and conducting the tasks, the
timeframe allowed, as well as any interim and final, or internal and external, deadlines. A simplified
example of a report production programme is presented below:
At the start of Step 2, you should be well
aware of the essential elements that need to be covered by your EPR to
satisfy HKSARG reporting requirements. These are stipulated in the ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007,
discussed in Chapter 3 of the COER Guide and further explored in Section
2 of this Step-by-Step Guide. Once you have identified the essential elements,
you can plan the detailed contents. This process is known as "scoping".
Scoping is a very useful step in the report planning process that screens issues for inclusion in your
EPR. The output would be a framework that guides you along your report preparation process. To obtain the
full benefit of scoping, begin it well before your report needs to be published. You will need time to
collect yearly data and report these data to support your performance claims. As such, you may need to
establish a data collection mechanism(s) one year prior to reporting so that a complete set of data could be
available for the annual EPR.
Scoping your report in light of your Environmental Policy is one of the most effective and efficient ways to
demonstrate how your department/bureau/organization has performed to fulfill the environmental commitments as
stated in your Environmental Policy. For example, if your Policy has a commitment on energy conservation,
your EPR should report on the energy-saving measures that were taken to achieve this and the results of these
measures including before-and-after energy consumption levels. Apart from this, it is useful to scope your
EPR in light of various stakeholder groups' concerns. This useful step will help you report on issues that
your readers are interested in, thereby enhancing dialogue with your stakeholders.
Once you have established your Report Framework, next steps involve determining how you
will report on your performance for all the issues to be covered in your report and gathering the necessary
data and information. Some issues will require qualitative descriptions of your approach and performance
against the issue and others will involve measurable performance indicators.
After you have assessed your overall performance, it is time to identify where improvements can be made and
where you can set objectives and targets for inclusion in the report.
Once you have gathered all the necessary data and information for your report you are ready to produce your
report. Apart from drafting the text, preparing charts and images, and releasing and distributing the EPR,
additional tasks may include graphic design, printing, and the production of web and/or pdf versions of your
report. Most importantly, you will need to obtain internal approval for the report contents, perhaps at
different stages from different levels of management. It may be useful to form an ad-hoc team to put together
the EPR, particularly if your organization is large or if reporting issues are complex and involve a variety
of units within your organization. This is also a useful way to raise awareness and involve responsible staff
in your environmental performance and reporting initiative.
It is good practice to establish follow-up mechanisms to facilitate review for
improvement in the next reporting exercise. Possible follow-up actions include collecting feedback on the EPR
and evaluating the effectiveness of the EPR.
The target audience's feedback on the EPR is extremely valuable to determine whether or not your EPR is an
effective communication tool and to provide you with areas to address to improve your next EPR. Nonetheless,
feedback is sometimes difficult to obtain. There are various ways to encourage feedback. Some examples
include:
Encourage feedback from internal parties (e.g.
staff members) in addition to external parties (e.g. communities,
green groups, academics and other partner government departments,
the Sustainable Development Unit of the HKSARG, Legco members, etc.)
Arrange meetings or telephone interviews with
target audience groups or individuals
Email feedback forms to target audience groups
or individuals
For those departments and bureaux with more reporting experience, the effectiveness of the EPR could also be
evaluated by conducting a third party verification or a benchmarking exercise, both of which are formal,
systematic report evaluation processes. Sections 3 and 4 of this Step-by-Step Guide provide more information
on these tools.
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