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HKEX: Over 95% of Issuers Disclosed Board Oversight on ESG

susie December 1, 2022 0 Comments

HKEX observed a significant improvement in board’s governance over ESG matters (See below excerpt for average reporting rates for each aspects). Going forward, issuers should also disclose relevant processes, controls and procedures used to monitor and manage ESG matters. This may involve elaboration on:

  1. relevant expertise or skills of the board, or the designated committee or management level positions, for effective oversight on ESG matters;
  2. interaction between the board and the designated committee or the management-level positions, including the frequency and form of reporting to the board;
  3. frequency of the board’s discussion on ESG issues;
  4. internal and external resources and expertise available for the ESG management process; and
  5. alignment of ESG governance with an issuer’s business strategy.

Average reporting rates of all MDRs and Aspects

Source: HKEX 2022 Analysis of ESG Practice Disclosure

On monitoring the progress against ESG-related goals and targets, issuers should disclose information such as (i) measurement system or industry benchmark adopted for progress assessment; (ii) process for data collection and verification; and (iii) comparison with the historical data and how the baseline is selected.

Embracing ISSB

Regarding climate change, HKEX supports the establishment of ISSB for developing globally accepted sustainability reporting standards and will collaborate with other regulators in Hong Kong to work on a roadmap to evaluate and potentially adopt the new ISSB standards.

Reporting on scope 3 GHG emission is contemplated under the new ISSB climate standards, and issuers should start considering reporting as soon as practicable. HKEX suggests issuers develop a systematic approach to calculate and report their data by:

  1. identifying the scope and types of emissions in, and the categories of significant upstream or downstream activities along, the value chain to be included in the reporting based on a materiality assessment;
  2. determining a feasible and effective method to collect and verify emission data;
  3. applying appropriate calculation methodologies to quantify emissions from different activities; and
  4. consistently disclosing emission figures with reference to reporting frameworks.

Alaya has been advising companies on ESG governance and climate-related disclosure for the past eight years. Please contact Tony by calling +852 66877852 or sending an email to tonywong@alayaconsulting.com.hk for further information.