CLP Strives to Connect to People for Sustainable Development

The CLP Group has been participating in the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Leadership Program, an intensive year-long executive education initiative which prepares leaders for sustainability challenges and opportunities, since 2004.

This year, Kit Fong Law, Manager - Group Sustainability from CLP, is joining the program to navigate how to better communicate sustainable development and report to stakeholders. “Communication is an important element of sustainable development because advances in technologies enable news – both good and bad – to travel further and faster than ever. This provides opportunities but also creates risks that never existed before,” she said.

In the second part of the three-module program, held in partnership with Yale University, 45 participants from 31 companies gathered in London in May to exchange their learning and gain new insights from industry experts and academics from Lancaster University, University of Oxford, University of London and the Islamic Reporting Initiative.

Panels throughout a week, as Ms Law shared, illustrated that corporates need to walk the talk to avoid the pitfall of greenwashing. Furthermore, as businesses have impact beyond financial success, the participants debated how sustainability success should be measured.

“We learned that some companies see financial success as fundamental – and that managing social and environmental impact helps companies manage risks in a complex operating environment. Others see the need for a holistic measurement of business success to take into account non-financial impact,” she said.

As a forward-looking power company, CLP understands the importance of sustainability to the next generation and to the long-term growth of its business. It has hence supported professionals working in different fields – from sustainability to finance and human resources – to take part in the leadership program with the aim of building their aspiration and capability to drive sustainable development together with the international community.

The scheme, formerly called the Future Leaders Program, has over the years contributed to research into various topics, including integrating strategic sustainability into business decision-making, strategy and innovation, and scaling up business actions on climate change and improving the business case.

Check out more of Ms Law’s perspectives on the recent session here and previous research reports here.