Hong Kong has a plastic crisis. With more and more things being packaged in disposable plastics, the volume of plastic waste is on rising trend. In 2020, more than 2,300 tonnes of plastics was disposed of at landfills in Hong Kong every day, accounting for 21% of the city’s municipal solid waste.

Since 1983, Friends of the Earth (HK) (“FoE (HK)”) has led the environmental dialogue by engaging government, business and community with equitable solutions to protect our local and regional environment.

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is hosting a consultation on regulations of Environmental, Social & Governance (“ESG”) rating and data providers. It is proposing a set of recommendations to mitigate risks around ESG ratings and data products providers, including encouraging financial market practitioners to take international ESG ratings into account in their investment decisions.

The Environmental Protection Department launched the consultation on the "Regulation of Disposable Plastic Tableware” today. The government proposes to regulate the use of single-use plastic tableware including cutleries, cups, and food containers for dine-in and takeaway services at 2025 earliest.

On behalf of Friends of the Earth (HK) and the World Benchmarking Alliance, we take this opportunity to submit our joint comments in response to the notice for public solicitation of comments for the content and format of information disclosure by companies that are publicly issuing securities — annual reports and semi-annual reports.

Hong Kong has a plastic crisis. Beverage consumption in the city have continued to trend upwards over the years, and with it, so did the waste generated from beverage packaging...

COVID-19 has led the economy to a standstill, causing the most severe global recession on record and stalling environmental progress. The pandemic however will not be the last crisis that the world or Hong Kong will face...