IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Ellie Tang, Head of Sustainability at New World Development, on corporation sustainability strategy

 

Ellie Tang is currently Head of Sustainability at New World Development Company Limited and General Manager – Sustainability at K11 Concepts Limited, where she formulated and drives the “New World Sustainability Vision 2030” across the Group’s businesses in Hong Kong and mainland China, supports environmental, social and governance (ESG) risk management and disclosure, leads green financing initiatives, and standardises sustainable building practices. She is also an appointed member of the Environmental Campaign Committee of the HKSAR Government.


You have abundant experience in developing and embedding long-term sustainability strategy in corporation, what first led you into this chosen career?
I was initially drawn to international relations and resource management when I was a student overseas. Eventually, I discovered the discipline of sustainable development and saw this huge gap between our consumption patterns and what makes sense for the planet. Before I knew what it took to develop sustainably, I felt businesses should step up to operate differently and think in a longer term. I found “sustainable development” very promising yet challenging for a society like Hong Kong where businesses have an important role in shaping the economy and the local culture.

An extensive green roof with an urban farm and an exercise area is one of the highlights of K11 ATELIER King’s Road’s certified green and healthy building design

New World Group is one of the pioneers in Hong Kong in protecting the environment and promoting healthy and sustainable living, can you share the vison of your company and some of the targets of your group with us?
New World Group has a diverse but synergistic business portfolio with property development and investment at its core. To help our stakeholders recall our sustainability agenda, we referenced UN Sustainable Development Goals to establish the “New World Sustainability Vision 2030” a few years ago, which enhances our customer experience based on the pillars of Green, Wellness, Smart and Caring. Our 2030 targets are as follows (with 2015 as our baseline year). There is no specific target for Smart as it is the underlying driver of digitalization, innovation and entrepreneurship promotion.

  • Green: reduce our energy intensity and carbon intensity by 50%
  • Wellness: enhance the wellbeing of 20M people through healthy built environment, wellness ventures and programmes and maintain the lost-time injury rate below 3.0 per 100 employees
  • Caring: improve the quality of life of 300M people through caring facilities, as well as education, cultural and community programmes and accumulate over 340K volunteering hours

Nature Discovery Park

You have worked in New World for more than 4 years, what is your most rewarding moment and proudest accomplishment in your company?
So much has happened over the past 4 years since I established the Group function to fully integrate ESG into everything we do. There have been many highlights from borrowing Hong Kong’s first green loan, founding Nature Discovery Park (Hong Kong’s first urban biodiversity museum and sustainability themed education park), to facilitating the process of getting the company listed on Dow Jones Sustainability Asia Pacific Index and joining the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Among all things, I feel most rewarding when I hear colleagues say “sustainability is part of our corporate strategy”.

I felt businesses should step up to operate differently and think longer term.

Greenery covers 220% of the site area at K11 ATELIER King’s Road

To read the complete article, register your details below
to be notified once the revamped Construction Plus App is ready!