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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)Main Content
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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As a minimum - elements in ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007, including: Controlling Officer's Profile
of Key Responsibilities; Environmental Goal; Environmental Policy; Environmental Objectives, Targets and
Milestones; Environmental Management and Performance ; Environmental Actions Requiring Special Attention |
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To go beyond the minimum - additional elements in EPD's A Guide to Environmental Reporting for
Controlling Officers
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To go further - additional elements in EPD's A Benchmark for Environmental Performance Reports
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Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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Click here to A Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
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Click here to A Benchmark for Environmental Performance Reports
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Reflect and address the significant, relevant, direct and indirect environmental issues arising from your
programme and policy areas as well as your operations |
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Sufficiently reflect the size, nature and the environmental influence of your department/bureau/organization |
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Incorporate the recommendations provided in the ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007 and EPD's A Guide
to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
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Include other related requirements of your department/bureau/organization and where possible, e.g.
efficiency enhancement, budget-saving initiatives, sustainable practices and policy decisions, supply-chain
management, occupational health and safety requirements, etc. |
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Seek opportunities for policy integration, e.g. environmental, health and safety policy, sustainability
policy |
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Incorporate ISO 14001 EMS Standard requirements on policy if your department/bureau/organization is
planning to adopt the system, certify to the Standard or operate in line with its requirements. |
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Review policies of relevant departments/bureaux/organizations in Hong Kong and other countries for ideas
and inspiration |
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Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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Click here to A Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
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Click here to Corporate Environmental Reporting
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Should balance the coverage of general issues with significant and controversial issues |
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All issues must be relevant to a department's core operations or programme areas, or to a bureau's core
policy and supervisory areas |
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Incorporate issues that address stakeholder concerns and target audience-expectations |
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Incorporate issues that will require special attention in the short, medium and longer terms |
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Select issues that link environmental policy commitments with significant aspects and performance, i.e.
a link or thread running through the report sections |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 1
"EPR Production Process"
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 2
"Essential Elements of an EPR"
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 3
"Elements of a Well-prepared EPR: I. Communication; II. Relevance"
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Report readers, target audiences or stakeholders may include the HKSAR government, other local and
overseas government departments/bureaux, the general community and specific communities with concerns related
to the reporting department/bureau, local and international NGOs, educational institutions, staff, contractors
and the general public. |
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Report readers or stakeholders are likely to be concerned with: |
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Approach to and progress with significant and controversial issues relevant to the operations and
decision-making of the reporting department/bureau |
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Vision, policy and commitment towards environmental protection and/or
sustainability |
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Direction and actual programmes to attaining the vision and commitment |
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Any changes in policy in the short- and long-term future |
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Achievements and improvements in environmental performance with regard to
relevant significant issues, and how these benefit Hong Kong and its communities |
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Future targets |
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Report readers or stakeholders' concerns should be addressed with an honest and balanced view, e.g. do not
hide or evade issues, do not distort achievement levels, explain why certain efforts/targets failed and
provide proposed remedial measures, etc. |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 3
"Elements of a Well-prepared EPR: II. Relevance: 6. Stakeholders and Report Target Audience"
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To comprehensively and meaningfully report on environmental performance, 3 basic, logical steps should be
included at a minimum. These are: 1) describing the environmental issues related to the programme and policy
areas and operations of your department/bureau/organization; 2) describing the specific initiatives and
programmes that target those mentioned environmental issues; 3) describing the results and environmental
outcomes of the initiatives and programmes undertaken. |
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Step 3 must be included to satisfactorily meet the aim of reporting. It is not enough just to describe
the initiatives and programmes undertaken. This alone does not provide an indication of how environmental
performance is improved. |
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Develop and use indicators as needed to describe the results and environmental outcomes |
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Use normalized indicators wherever possible and appropriate |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 3
"Elements of a Well-prepared EPR: IV. Performance: 14. Metrics and Indicators"
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Click here to COER Guide Annex 6
Examples of Analysis of Environmental Performance
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To measure performance: |
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Pick direct, measurable indicators that enable you to track the key environmental
impacts, benefits or results arising from your operations and the environmental programmes implemented.
These indicators should support the collection of data by measurement, counting, or mathematical
estimation. |
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Examples include: "monthly/yearly electricity consumption in kWh" for
operational statistics or an energy conservation programme; "number of participants",
"number of training sessions", and/or "number of environmental topics covered" for an
environmental training programme; "number of types of environmentally-preferable products
procured" for a green purchasing programme; "number of incidents exceeding environmental license
limits" for a compliance improvement programme. |
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For other example indicators, refer to reports prepared by other public sector
organizations and the ISO 14031 guidance on environmental performance indicators |
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To report performance: |
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Include direct indicators that report on the results of the environmental
programmes implemented in absolute terms (e.g. total tonnes of paper collected for recycling).
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Note that it is also important to support quantitative results with qualitative
explanations of performance (e.g. for green procurement, how you define "environmentally preferable
product") |
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To extend further, include normalized indicators (or relative indicators) to
supplement or emphasize information (e.g. tonnes of paper collected for recycling per employee, per
project or per office) |
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Include a good mix of management performance indicators (e.g. indicators on
environmental policy implementation and awareness raising), operational performance indicators (i.e.
indicators on environmental consumption and waste generation levels arising from your operations) and
environmental condition indicators (i.e. indicators on the resultant environmental condition given the
impact/influence of your operations). |
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Click here to COER Guide Annex 6
Examples of Analysis of Environmental Performance
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Best to follow the specification in the ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007 which is the use of the calendar year |
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In line with best reporting practices, should consider adopting a timeframe that is most relevant and
meaningful to measure and report environmental performance in accordance with the operations/programme
areas/decision-making cycle |
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For environmental reports incorporated in annual reports or sustainability reports, the reporting
timeframe could be the financial year to ensure consistency and integrity of the integrated report |
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For reporting organizations operating within a specific fiscal year timeframe (e.g. educational
institutions), the fiscal year could be used if it is best to reflect the corresponding environmental
performance |
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Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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Set departmental objectives and if needed, divisional objectives to support the departmental objectives |
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Then define targets as per these objectives |
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Targets could be phased into longer terms, e.g. 2-year targets, 3-year targets, 5-year targets |
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Set reasonable, achievable yet challenging and meaningful targets |
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Consult individual operating units and divisions to devise the most applicable target levels |
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Use historical data as a reference when setting targets |
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Consider other departmental/divisional objectives and targets in related areas to seek opportunities to
integrate or set complementary objectives and targets |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 3
"Elements of a Well-prepared EPR: IV. Performance: 16. Targets"
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Click here to COER Guide
Annex 5 Examples of Environmental Targets and Milestones
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Identify the specific concerns and expectations of fellow staff members and management level with regard
to environmental performance improvement and seek opportunities to address these concerns through the
implementation of environmental programmes and the reporting of the achievements |
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Example: the achievement of environmental measures suggested by staff; environmental cost savings;
environmental awards won by the department/bureau/organization; environmental outreach and charity
programmes with staff and management involvement, etc. |
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Reporting as a means to measure, evaluate, reflect upon and plan for environmental performance and
improvement for the reporting department/bureau as a whole |
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Reporting provides assurance and benchmarking opportunities for management level |
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Reporting as a means to recognize efforts and achievements of fellow staff members |
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No readily available template exists that would be appropriate for all organizations (i.e. "one size
doesn't fit all") |
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Develop your own template using the guidance provided in the ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007, EPD's A
Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers and A Benchmark for Environmental
Performance Reports
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Also observe international guidelines and guidance (e.g. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the Coalition
for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES), Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)) |
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Also observe how other departments/bureaux structure their report |
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Review reports prepared by other organizations and companies that have received awards (e.g. ECC's
Eco-Business Awards, ACCA's Environmental Reporting Awards) |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 2
"Essential Elements of an EPR"
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide Section 3
"Elements of a Well-prepared EPR: I. Communication; II. Relevance"
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Click here to Useful Resource Documents, Reference Materials
and Links for international guidelines and environmental reports of other organizations |
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There will have to be trade-offs |
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Consider what is most important to the department/bureau |
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Consider any urgent matters and stakeholder concerns that must be addressed |
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Consider how reporting could help the department/bureau address those urgent matters |
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Strike a reasonable balance between both needs, e.g. a medium sized report meeting all of the PELB
requirements and a number of more important and relevant EPD Guidebook and Benchmark Tool requirements. |
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Pick and screen issues effectively, for example |
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Use effective and concise presentation methods to overcome length constraints, e.g. tables, charts,
pictures, highlights, bullet points, lists, etc. |
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Identify strategy to expand reporting in the future |
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![](../images/star.gif) |
Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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![](../images/star.gif) |
Click here to A
Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
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![](../images/star.gif) |
Click here to A
Benchmark for Environmental Performance Reports
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Should choose a medium that best fits the department/bureau's needs with respect to policy, monetary
resources, human resources, time resources, distribution needs, concerned stakeholder group's coverage and
accessibility |
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Should observe and consider: |
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the memo from EPD on the distribution of hardcopies to libraries and EPD resource
centres |
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the government's general initiative towards paperless office |
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language requirements, disadvantaged groups' requirements |
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environmental impacts (e.g. paper vs CD-Rom vs web vs electronic file) |
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the government's (i.e. ITSD) requirements with respect to web publishing |
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useful references for reporting by the web, e.g. Association of Chartered
Certified Accounts (ACCA)'s guidebook on web reporting |
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Click here to Useful
Resource Documents, Reference Materials and Links
for ACCA's guidebook |
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Current government requirement - by end of each calendar year a report for the previous calendar year
should be published, e.g. by end of 2003 a report reporting on year 2002 should have been published |
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Best practice - to publish a report within the first quarter of the next reporting year so that the
targets are meaningful in timing, e.g. by first quarter 2003 publish year 2002 report including year 2003
targets |
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Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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First, satisfy the distribution requirements of the ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007. An updated
distribution list is provided in this website |
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Identify additional interested parties and concerned stakeholders (especially in light of environmental
issues and expectations) and generate a distribution list with confirmed contact information (e.g. names,
emails, addresses, telephones, etc.) |
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Consider the best method of distribution (e.g. papercopy or email of electronic file or web posting
followed by an email notice); uploading to the internet has become a very popular method but it is essential
to ensure that the web report is fully accessible and readable based on any technicalor IT constraints. |
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For distribution of papercopies, determine the number of copies each target audience group will need |
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Distribute in accordance with the generated distribution list |
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Click here to ETWB Circular Memorandum No. 1/2007
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Click here to the updated
distribution list
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Provide convenient feedback mechanism, e.g. feedback form attached to papercopy for faxing |
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Invite comments and include complete feedback pathway contact information, e.g. a name/post with contact
information, web feedback mechanism |
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Follow-up phone calls to specific target audience groups identified that may potentially provide
feedback |
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Include commitment to address and acknowledge feedback in the next report so that readers know their
feedback will be considered and it is worth their while to provide feedback |
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Strike a reasonable balance between both needs, e.g. a medium sized report meeting all of the ETWB
requirements and a number of more important and relevant EPD Guidebook and Benchmark Tool requirements. |
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Hold targeted feedback meetings/workshops with key stakeholders |
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Click here to Step-by-Step Guide
Section 1 "EPR Production Process: Step 4 Possible Follow-ups"
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Click here to A
Guide to Environmental Reporting for Controlling Officers
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EPRs should be verified because verification ensures the credibility of the EPR and provides assurance of
the report contents to readers |
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Reporting organizations are encouraged to make use of the AA1000 Assurance Standard (i.e. a standard
developed by AccountAbility that provides guidance on implementing a credible, systematic verification
process) to assess, plan, describe and oversee the implementation of the verification process for their
EPRs |
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Verification must be done by an independent, third party, e.g. professional consultant that has not been
involved in the report preparation process, to maintain the integrity of the exercise and the verification
statement |
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Following the verification process, a verification statement (or validation statement or assurance
statement) is produced. This statement should be included at the end of the EPR to demonstrate that the
report is credible and accurate |
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Click here to Step-by-Step
Guide Section 4 "Systematic Techniques to Improve your EPR"
to learn more about verification and other useful techniques |
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Click here to Useful Resource Documents, Reference Materials
and Links for the AA1000 Assurance Standard |
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Collectively through the EPD website on a collection of local government reports |
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Individually through the specific government department's website |
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Contact green manager if the report is not posted on the website |
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Click here to A Collection of Local and Overseas Environmental Performance Reports
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Conduct a benchmarking exercise by: |
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First identify a suitable report(s) produced
by a comparable department(s)/bureau(x)/organization(s), whether
local or overseas |
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Secondly identify a framework of comparison
(i.e. a benchmarking framework), e.g. EPD's A guide to Environmental
Reporting for Controlling Officers and A Benchmark for
Environmental Performance Reports, or international reporting
guidelines such as GRI, ACCA |
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Evaluate the quality of your report and
the others' reports with respect to each requirement as specified
in your chosen benchmarking framework |
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Compare the evaluation results |
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Identify achievements and shortfalls |
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Produce recommendations and/or areas
of improvement for next report |
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Click here to
A Benchmark for Environmental Performance Reports to
download its pdf version |
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Click here to download the
Self-Scoring Template
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Click here to Useful
Resource Documents, Reference Materials and Links for
international guidelines and environmental reports of other organizations |
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In 2001 the HKSARG
Sustainable Development Unit was established to support the
government's sustainability initiatives, including the promotion of
sustainable development and the sustainability assessment of major
government policies and projects. In 2003, the
Council for Sustainable Development was established by
the Chief Executive to advise the Government on raising the awareness
of and engaging the community in the promotion of sustainable development
and on the development of a sustainable development strategy for Hong
Kong that will integrate economic, social and environmental perspectives. |
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Consult guidance on environmental, health and safety (EHS), social and sustainability reporting, e.g.
ACCA guidance, GRI and CERES guidelines, and sustainability reports prepared by other organizations |
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Review your responsibilities and operations to identify the economic, social and environmental issues
that are relevant to your department/bureau |
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Conduct a gap analysis to identify how your department/bureau is addressing relevant economic, social and
environmental issues against international benchmarks and guidelines |
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Identify performance areas that the department/bureau can begin to address related to health and safety,
social and economic issues, as well as integrated or cross-cutting sustainability issues |
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Develop and determine a strategy for issue performance and data collection |
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To further sustainability, produce an integrated report such as Environmental and Social Report or
Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Report or a Sustainability Report |
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To address sustainability, produce a sustainability report covering and relating economic, environmental
and social issues |
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Click here to Useful Resource Documents, Reference Materials
and Links for international guidelines and more information |
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