Swire Pacific Limited

Overview

Swire Pacific Limited has diversified interests in Property, Aviation, Beverages, Marine Services and Trading & Industrial, with operations largely based in Greater China, where the Swire group has been established for over 140 years.  

Swire Pacific's response to climate change is part of its Sustainable Development Policy, which recognizes that the value of its business is dependent on sustainable development and the goodwill of customers and local communities. Because of this, the company is committed to working with others to promote sustainable development in the industries it operates in.

Swire Pacific is one of the 950 signatories of the Copenhagen Communiqué, which calls for an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change, that responds credibly to the scale and urgency of the crisis we face.

As a further example of its climate business leadership stance, Swire Pacific and its subsidiaries Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company publicly responded to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) questionnaire, giving details of their greenhouse gas emissions for 2009 and the actions they are taking to minimize future emissions. Each subsidiary is committed to carbon emission transparency through the CDP, both now and in the future.

More than 99.8% of the Group's greenhouse gas emissions derive from energy use for electricity or transport, so its work to cut emissions is focused on reducing the energy intensity of its operations. All subsidiaries are developing energy and carbon intensity metrics that will provide a focus for ongoing work to improve energy efficiency, and reduce the carbon intensity of their operations. 

Current activities

Cathay Pacific Airways supports International Air Transport Association’s four pillar strategy on greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. This strategy includes advocating a global agreement under which all airlines pay for their emissions, with a significant portion of the funds raised being spent on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries. 

In this way, airlines can make a significant contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions in a way which avoids competitive distortion and is consistent with the United Nation’s principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’.

The Aviation Global Deal

Fuel consumption by Swire Pacific’s airlines contributes to approximately 96% of its GHG emissions. To minimize this impact, Cathay Pacific Airways has worked with a number of other aviation companies as well as The Climate Group as part of the Aviation Global Deal Group. 

This Group proposes a global sectoral approach to include emissions from international aviation in a global climate change treaty. Led by Cathay Pacific Airways, these companies have a multi-year ongoing program to improve fuel efficiency through fleet modernization, route optimization and aircraft weight reduction.

Energy efficiency

Swire Pacific’s second largest contribution to carbon emissions comes from the electricity used in premises managed by Swire Properties. To reduce these emissions, it aims to focus on the following key areas; building operations; building design; tenant engagement and research and development.

In 2010, Swire Pacific invested over HK$86 million in reducing its environmental impacts, including sustainable development studies, research and reporting, systems and features for new buildings, environmental initiatives for operating buildings, Building Environmental Assessment Method (BEAM) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) assessments and stakeholder engagement. 

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