About this Report
For over 15 years, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (hereafter referred to as “PolyU” or “the University”) has reported on our environmental and sustainability performance. The University endorsed an international reporting approach, in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Guidelines, in fiscal year 2011/12. We have further upgraded our sustainability disclosures in this 2017/18 Sustainability Report (hereafter called “This Report”) to align with the latest GRI Standards. Titled “Sustainability ∙ Forward with Impact”, this Report illustrates the recent progress and achievements we have made along our sustainability journey, as well as the impacts PolyU has had on our campus community, the natural environment and on Hong Kong society as a whole.
Reporting Scope
This Report covers the major sustainability initiatives, achievements and impacts of PolyU’s 9.46-hectare Main Campus in Hung Hom in fiscal year 2017/18, which ran from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018. It does not include any restatements on the information disclosed in previous sustainability reports.
There were no significant changes to the size, structure or ownership of PolyU during the reporting period as compared with the previous sustainability report. The data and statistics presented in this Report are absolute values and are normalized into comparable terms where appropriate and practicable. For calculation purposes, unless specified, all data in this Report has been compared against our baseline year, 2014/15, while intensity calculations are based on full-time staff headcounts and full-time equivalent (FTE) students.
Reporting Principles
This Report has been prepared in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards Core option. Details of the relevant GRI indicators and the corresponding sections covered in this Report are listed in the GRI Content Index.
Material Aspects
PolyU performed an on-going and interactive engagement process to communicate with and seek feedback from stakeholders on our sustainability performance. In 2017, we commissioned the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to carry out a comprehensive stakeholder engagement exercise for our 2014/15 Sustainability Report. The most influential stakeholder groups were prioritized during the engagement process and were categorized according to their influence and dependence level on PolyU’s operations. These groups were: full-time students, academic and non-academic staff, committee members and senior management, business partners, non-governmental organizations, and suppliers and contractors. All groups were engaged through existing engagement channels which were supplemented by surveys and group discussions. Based on on-going stakeholder engagement practices and a senior management review, the list of material aspects previously identified remained unchanged for this Report.
| Categories | Material AspectsNote 1 | Corresponding BoundariesNote 2 Within PolyU |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Performance | Materials | ✔ |
| Energy | ✔ | |
| Water | ✔ | |
| Emissions | ✔ | |
| Effluents and Waste | ✔ | |
| Environmental Compliance | ✔ | |
| Social Responsibility and Human Rights | Non-Discrimination | ✔ |
| Local Communities | ✔ | |
| Human Rights Assessment | ✔ |
| Note 1: | The scope of the material aspects has remained unchanged since our baseline year of 2014/15. Upon transitioning from G4 to GRI Standards, several topics that were previously standalone have been consolidated into other topics in this Report. These include: (1) Environmental Impact by Transport, which is now covered in Energy and Emissions; and (2) Environmental Expenditures and Investments and (3) Environmental Grievance Mechanisms; both of which have been merged into Management Approach Disclosures. |
| Note 2: | According to the materiality assessment, the operations of our suppliers and contractors do not fall into any material aspects categories. |