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Article

30 Sep 2018

Author:
Oxfam Hong Kong

Oxfam report assesses companies' involvements in SDGs in Greater China region

"Corporate engagement in and action on the Sustainable Development Goals in Greater China", July 2018

…This study considers a total of 150 of the largest listed companies in the Greater China region…i.e. Hong Kong, mainland China (Shanghai and Shenzhen) and Taiwan…

Major findings: [Only a quarter of companies researched engaged with the SDGs; companies were mostly from financial and electronics sectors]…Among all of them, the financial and electronics sector were most engaged…followed by energy & utilities and telecommunication sector…Companies took action on SDGs 3 [Good Health and Well-being], 8 [Decent Work and Economic Growth], 12 [Responsible Consumption and Pro-duction] and 13 [Climate Action] most…

Local financial and real estate sectors neglected the SDGs...Only eight out of 50 local companies engaged with the SDGs. The financial (13 compa-nies), energy (10 companies) and real estate (seven companies) sectors constituted more than 60.0% of the 50 companies, however, only two companies from the energy sector engaged with the SDGs…Out of the eight local companies engaged with the SDGs, only three companies…took action on both SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities). Local companies tend to focus more on climate-related SDGs, and neglect those related to global poverty, including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 10…The proportion of blue chip companies in the Greater China region that engaged with the SDGs (40 out of 150) is far lower than their internation-al counterparts…

Oxfam calls on companies to respect and promote human rights, exercise re-sponsible tax practices, make a fairer share of profit and offer employees a liv-ing wage so as to achieve various SDGs. Oxfam thus recommends companies to…a) Consult stakeholders to prioritise the SDGs...b) Assess policies and initiatives to address identified is-sues…c) Adjust core business to align with the SDGs…