Response to Climate Change

MTR Corporation has taken a decisive position on environmental stewardship with the adoption of the Climate Change Policy. This Policy commits us to a series of key actions driven by risk assessment and mitigation. It also obliges us to reduce our carbon footprint in a targeted and continuous manner and to endeavour to influence our energy providers so as to address the broader scope of climate change.

Aligning to this commitment, MTR Corporation undertakes through a reiterative process the risk assessment of impacts that would most likely affect our operations in conjunction with the identification of our primary sources of GHG emissions. These identified impacts are mainly sourced from the UITP's model for industry practices on climate change, and further corporate-specific risks are added to secure a balanced view in assessment. In particular, the possible outbreak of pandemic illnesses, the expected rise in energy usage due to a warmer climate and the continued deterioration of air quality are closely monitored.



To address these and other energy-related issues, a series of stepped-up programmes are in progress to reduce GHG emissions across the organisation. These include annual energy audits on all managed properties, initiatives under the Energy Management Committee, energy optimisation of the rail system and numerous smaller department-specific programmes.

The Climate Change Policy is changing our development future. Planning and design in both rail and property now consider the issues of increasingly constrained resources and the related impact on the efficient life-cycle management of built assets. We are currently in the early stages of addressing these and exploring global industry advances as benchmark guidelines. LOHAS Park is our first step in this learning curve to find viable long-term solutions.

In our broader environmental stewardship strategy, which links us to economic and social expectations, we subscribe to international certification. Certification serves a dual purpose in advancing strategy. First, it pushes our business forward by linking environmental objectives to real business practices. This involves risk management, target setting and the use of recognised performance benchmarks and standards as KPIs. Second, certification motivates staff. By imposing targets on performance, we raise awareness in each employee in such areas as energy consumption and efficiency in waste management, and most importantly, we provide the education that instils practice beyond the workplace environment.