Shaping a Sustainability Strategy for Hong Kong’s Leading Aviation Hub
The Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) is a statutory body wholly owned by the Hong Kong SAR Government, responsible for the operation and development of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA)—one of the busiest airports in the world.
SR’s partnership with AAHK began over a decade ago, with the design of its first-ever sustainability report. Since then, we have worked closely with AAHK to advance its sustainability strategy through stakeholder engagement, materiality assessments, reporting, goal setting and the creation of its first branded sustainability strategy framework.
Our work has helped AAHK along its journey to become the “World’s Greenest Airport”—a long-standing commitment to excellence—by blending technical credibility with compelling design and communications.
Sitting at the crossroads of hot button issues-from climate change and biodiversity to employee safety, wellness and more-sustainability in aviation demands a dynamic approach. AAHK stands out in this complex industry as the operator of one of the world’s busiest airports and a recognised sustainability leader, requiring a unique blend of technical sustainability and creative expertise to continue to set the bar.
Defining What Matters Most
Our engagements with AAHK have kicked off with deep research to define the airport’s evolving economic, environmental and social impacts, the related business risks and opportunities, and the trends driving sustainability in the industry and beyond.
We’ve helped AAHK define and communicate its sustainability impacts, risks and opportunities in line with the GRI Standards and, more recently, we helped set the organisation on a path towards deeper integration of its sustainability and business strategies through a gap analysis and roadmap to address the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards.
Stakeholder Engagement: Unearthing Strategic Insights
Through multiple touchpoints, we’ve engaged stakeholders within AAHK’s two-year materiality assessment cycle. In year one, we conducted an in-depth exercise, synthesising views on multiple sustainability issues from a dedicated stakeholder survey and two in-person focus groups. In year two, we facilitated an External Review Committee meeting attended by a diverse group of sustainability practitioners to validate year-one results with a highly experienced panel.
Beyond materiality, SR has leveraged the stakeholder engagement process to inform recommendations to enhance AAHK’s strategy, reporting and communications.
Strategy Development: A Future-Fit Framework
We proudly supported the goal setting, concept, naming and design behind the Ascend sustainability strategy framework—a pathway to even greater heights of environmental and operational excellence, while contributing to thriving economies and societies along the way.
This ambitious framework is built around 24 strategic goals, organised under four distinct pillars: Thriving People, Thriving Economies & Societies, Operational Excellence, and Environmental Excellence. Our approach helped evolve AAHK’s existing aspirations into points of differentiation while addressing both stakeholder needs and emerging industry trends.
Championing Transparency
We helped AAHK maintain trust with sustainability-minded investors by articulating the positive impacts from US$2 billion in green bond proceeds in a Sustainable Finance Transactions Annual Report. Our work encompassed green bond report content development, peer benchmarking, gap analysis against leading frameworks, including the ICMA Green Bond Principles, and impact metric identification.
We’ve packaged AAHK’s holistic sustainability efforts into comprehensive sustainability reports that are not only “in accordance” with the GRI Standards, but also demonstrate how HKIA’s leadership in sustainable aviation supports Hong Kong’s economic growth, its people and the millions of travellers touching down on its runways. Over the years, our work has comprised SR’s full end-to-end reporting solution, from disclosure advisory to data collection, materiality assessment, copywriting and design.
