WWF encouraged our corporate members to enhance their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) actvities at our annual Corporate Membership Award Presentation Ceremony held at The Helena May tonight. Mr Bernard Chan, JP, Member of Executive Council and Legislative Council, HKSAR, also emphasized the important role of business can play in nature conservation when presenting awards to 83 companies to recognize their dedication and commitment to protecting Hong Kong’s natural environment.

“WWF Hong Kong has been working to protect our natural environment for the past 25 years. Our past success has made possible by the unfailing support of dedicated individuals and committed parties who share our concerns for our environment. The growing recognition of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) concept in business community is certainly a good sign which we believe can bring greater ecological benefit to the protection of our natural environment,” said Mr Markus Shaw, WWF Hong Kong Chairman.

© WWF

While the success of our Corporate Membership Programme reflects a higher level of commitment from the business community, the companies are requested to play a more active role by engaging their staff in pushing the green agenda to help shape the future of our planet.

“WWF would like to see our Corporate Members support the environmental causes by extending the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in their business operations. One simple way is to increase staff awareness on environment issues, such as efficient use of energy, and, to motivate them to take responsible actions for the planet. WWF is happy to provide assistance to the interested companies in preparing staff engagement programmes which may include running green talks and training sessions on environment practices,” continued Mr Shaw.

Our environment is in critical state requiring urgent and effective conservation actions to reverse on-going degradation. Apart from strategically partnering with companies to promote the green concept to their staff, WWF will continue our SOS – “Save Our Seas” Campaign by launching a new public education poster themed as ‘street sleeper” starting this July to enhance public understanding on the unsustainable fisheries resources management issues in Hong Kong. WWF has also commissioned a socio-economic study to examine the consequences of different scenarios for fisheries management in Hong Kong. This is a major and expensive undertaking by WWF and the results will be submitted to the government.

Mr Eric Bohm, WWF Hong Kong CEO, said at the end of the ceremony, “WWF is determined to restore a healthy fish stock back to the Hong Kong waters by our SOS campaign. We wish to leave a living sea for our next generation who should be entitled to enjoy the wonders of our seas and appreciate the diverse marine resources in our marine environment.”

The WWF Corporate Membership Programme was launched in 2000 to engage the business community to help conserve our natural environment. Four categories of corporate membership have been offered to the business community, namely Double Diamond, Diamond, Gold and Silver Memberships on different levels of contribution and support. The corporate members have joined a great variety of environment activities organized by WWF to enhance their knowledge on Hong Kong’s natural environment and resources.