CSR 2013

The collective global response to challenges such as climate change and conserving biodiversity will influence the long-term health of the natural systems upon which we all depend. As one of Hong Kong's largest listed companies, we have a prominent platform from which to champion the cause of improved environmental stewardship.

We strive to reduce our waste production and consumption of energy and natural resources and, whenever possible, to use environmentally friendly products and certified materials in our operations.

We empower our staff to act as ambassadors for the environment by raising their awareness of green issues and use our services and policies to encourage greener practices among our customers and suppliers.

We consider the environmental impact of our business travel policies and are working to reduce non-essential travel through increased use of alternatives such as teleconferencing.

As a leading corporate citizen in Hong Kong, we are proud to be a local pioneer in promoting greater environmental responsibility. Beginning with our headquarters building in 2005, we have led the way in gaining ISO 14001 certification among domestic banks in Hong Kong. In 2011, we became the first local bank to achieve this internationally recognised environmental accreditation for all Hong Kong offices and branches.

In 2013, we committed to sponsoring the construction of a further 800 biogas facilities in mainland China - our largest undertaking since establishing the Hang Seng Yunnan Biogas Project in cooperation with The Conservancy Association in 2007. To date, we have helped build 3,000 biogas facilities in Yunnan province to provide a free and stable source of energy for more than 12,000 rural residents and reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by over 35,000 tonnes.

Key Initiative

Hang Seng Yunnan Biogas Project

The Hang Seng Yunnan Biogas Project has been driving positive social and environmental development in mainland China's Yunnan province since 2007. The biogas facilities help conserve natural resources and protect the environment, while also bringing positive change to the lives of villagers by reducing energy costs by up to 50% when compared to using firewood. The Project is currently saving more than 2,400 acres of forest every year - equivalent to an area that is 75 times the size of Kowloon Park in Hong Kong.

"We believe that biogas facilities will bring more positive changes to our environment in the future. We hope we can continue to work with Hang Seng to expand this project to bring biogas facilities to more rural communities in Yunnan."

Mr Rico Wong
Deputy Chief Executive of The Conservancy Association

"The entire teaching process, including the planning, was a very valuable and enjoyable experience for me. I hope the children will share their new knowledge about biogas facilities with their families and friends."

Tako Choi
Financial Control Division
and Bank volunteer

New steps in our work with the southern China business community on environmental issues include expanding the coverage of our environmental awards to cover the pan Pearl River Delta region. Organised jointly with the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, the Hang Seng Pan Pearl River Delta Environmental Awards (Awards) aim to serve as a catalyst for positive environmental change among manufacturing companies in this economically vibrant region by recognising and rewarding environmentally responsible behaviour.

With a 20% increase in the number of applications compared with the previous Awards year, over 720 projects were submitted to the 2012/13 Awards by 225 participants. Collective achievements included cutting consumption of electricity by over 126 million kilowatt hours and water usage by more than 4.2 million tonnes.

"All the winners have successfully implemented comprehensive and creative environmental projects, setting good examples for other companies. Under the 12th Five-year Plan on the Development of National Environmental Protection Standards, Hong Kong enterprises should adjust their strategies and comply with national requirements. By doing so, they can not only enhance their competitiveness but also sharpen their edge in the domestic market."

Mr Stanley Lau
Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries

Our e-Statement and e-InvestAdvice services offer e-Banking customers the option to receive account statements and other notices in electronic rather than paper format. At the end of 2013, the number of
e-Statement subscribers was more than 1.26 million and over 92,000 customers were using e-InvestAdvice - collectively saving more than 42 million sheets of paper a year. In addition, more than 25% of our personal credit card customers now receive e-Statements in preference to paper copies. Other resource-saving initiatives include providing online channels for personal loan and credit card applications.

Our Green Banking Integrated Account is designed to promote greater environmental awareness among full-time students at local universities and tertiary institutions and encourage them to support improved environmental protection by using fewer resources.

We also reach out to the wider community through actions such as our sponsorship of the Friends of the Earth (HK) 'Power Smart' Energy Saving Contest and holding the Hang Seng Green Carnival in partnership with The Conservancy Association.

To support the conservation of biodiversity, we stopped serving shark's fin at Bank functions in 2003 and have since removed endangered reef fish from our menus. We also provide a WWF (Hong Kong) endorsed sustainable seafood menu at our banquet hall.

Since 1999, we have planted around 93,000 trees - including 23,000 in 2013 - in Hong Kong and on the Mainland.

We are making steady progress in cutting our emissions (see table: Environmental Performance) and continue to take steps to stay abreast of environment-related regulatory developments that could directly or indirectly impact our business.

Environmental Performance	Unit	2013^	2012^#
Carbon Dioxide Emissions*
Total CO₂ emissions	tonnes	24,634.95	24,616.59
- Energy	tonnes	24,307.27	24,342.27
- Business Travel	tonnes	327.68	274.32

Total CO₂ emissions per FTE	tonnes/FTE	3.11	3.23
- CO₂ emissions per FTE from energy	tonnes/FTE	3.07	3.19
- CO₂ emissions per FTE from business travel	tonnes/FTE	0.04	0.04
CO₂ emissions per sq ft	tonnes/sq ft	0.02	0.02

Resources Consumption
Total energy consumption	Gj	128,498.30	133,009.19
- Electricity	Gj	126,986.40	131,804.29
- Other fuel sources (gas and diesel)	Gj	1,511.90	1,204.89
Energy consumption per FTE	Gj/FTE	16.24	17.43
Energy consumption per sq ft	Gj/sq ft	0.09	0.09

Total water consumption	000m³	64.81	65.90
Water consumption per FTE	m³/ FTE	8.19	8.64

Total paper consumption⁺	tonnes	2,018.85	1,926.89
- Compliant	%	92.68	90.71
- Near-compliant	%	1.24	0.98
- Non-compliant	%	6.08	8.31

Waste Disposed to Landfill
Total Waste Disposed to landfill	tonnes	287.36	279.11
- General Office Waste	tonnes	287.36	279.04
- IT and electrical	tonnes	0.00	0.07
Waste disposed per FTE	tonnes/ FTE	0.04	0.04

Waste Collected for Recycling
Total waste collected for recycling	tonnes	820.76	777.23
- General office	tonnes	761.92	722.28
- IT and electrical	tonnes	58.84	54.94

Data coverage: Hang Seng Bank's Hong Kong operations. Data is rounded up to 2 decimal places.

Key:
m³: Cubic metres CO₂:Carbon dioxide Gj: Gigajoules
FTE: Full-time equivalent employee sq ft: Square foot

^# From 1 Oct 2011 - 30 Sep 2012

^{^} From 1 Oct 2012 - 30 Sep 2013

^* Data is calculated and verified through HSBC Group.

⁺ Paper

- Compliant Paper: Paper certified by an HSBC Approved Certification Scheme. Currently includes FSC, Canadian Standards Association etc.

- Near-compliant Paper: Paper that contains virgin pulp whose source country is known and not on the high risk country list; and/or completely recycled paper, but not certified by an HSBC approved scheme.

- Non-compliant Paper: Source country of the virgin portion is unknown or on the high risk country list, and is not certified by any HSBC approved scheme.