MESSAGE FROM THE GROUP SUSTAINABILITY COMMITTEE CO-CHAIRS

In 2024, we continued to make considerable progress towards achieving our ultimate goal of being a sustainable, best-in-class global port operator. Indeed, we have made great strides towards achieving our overall objectives by reaching key milestones under each of our three sustainability pillars namely, “Our Environment,” “Our People” and “Our Business.”

You will note that the theme of this report is very much focused on taking responsibility in order to meet the expectations of our various stakeholders and to manage the increasing scrutiny that we face in terms of additional external reporting and regulatory requirements. Our report this year, for instance, includes some detail on how we are preparing to comply with both the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive’s more stringent reporting requirements on sustainability matters.

Our environmental pillar remains a key driver of our overall sustainability journey and in this regard, our total emissions continue to reduce in line with our Science Based Technology Initiative (SBTi) target of achieving a 54.6 per cent reduction in scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2033 compared to a 2021 baseline. Indeed, by the end of 2024, our total emissions have already been reduced by approximately 17 per cent compared to 2021.

To this end, our terminals around the world will continue to adhere to the committee’s directive of only purchasing equipment that is powered by electricity and where feasible, terminals operating in certain countries are purchasing electricity produced by renewable sources in order to help reduce scope 2 emissions.

In addition, we have modified our approach towards the management of our supply chain by refining the way we engage with our suppliers to further determine how they measure and control their own emissions, and to mitigate the risks associated with the supply chain from a full environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspective. Equally, many of our shipping line customers also continue to engage with us in order to better understand our decarbonisation journey as part of their own terminal selection and performance measurement process.

The responsibility theme is also central to our people’s pillar and there continues to be much focus on workplace health and safety and employee well-being. The committee attaches immense importance towards ensuring that Hutchison Ports remains a safe, inclusive, diverse and above all, fun place to work. This means “getting the best” out of our colleagues in a fair and transparent manner.

2024 also saw many of our terminals engaging more with their local stakeholders and there are many fun and exciting examples of local community engagement initiatives in this year’s report. Our long-established Dock School remains the core of our community outreach programme in which our colleagues provide support and assistance to nearby local schools which may be facing challenges.

Equally, our colleagues continue to be regularly active with our “Go Green” initiatives by supporting various environmental campaigns such as tree planting and waste recycling. During 2024, we introduced the “Our Oceans Project” – in collaboration with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – by helping to minimise the negative impact on our oceans by carrying out such activities as coral restoration and mangrove planting.

We hope that you enjoy reading the report. As Co-chairs of the Group Sustainability Committee, it has been a most rewarding and satisfying experience to witness the significant progress we have made on our sustainability journey since the committee was established in 2019. Through the dedication and hard work of our fellow committee members and all of our colleagues, we are very proud to have witnessed the many significant accomplishments under each of our sustainability pillars.

Of course, there is much more that needs to be done but we have every confidence that even given the increasingly uncertain world that we live in right now, our committee will remain focused on managing our business and our people in a safe and sustainable manner.

Together we can make it happen!