Richard Hui, Director of Technical Services & Sustainable Development (Chinese Mainland) at Swire Properties, recently discussed Swire Properties' ESG innovation and achievements in an interview. He noted governance as the most challenging part of ESG, and that Swire Properties has adopted a sustainable development concept instead of the ESG. Twenty years ago, Swire Properties set up a sustainable development department, focusing on technical services and sustainable development. Swire Properties successfully launched five green bond offerings from early 2018 to September 2021, and one green loan. About 40% of Swire Properties' bonds and loans were from green finance as of 31 May 2022.

Swire Properties has a vision of becoming the leading sustainable development performer in the industry globally by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. To this end, the company has set related goals – reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025 and 46% by 2030. When reviewing sustainable development achievements in 2020, Swire Properties found that 96% of its goals had been accomplished and went on to set another 40 goals in 2021. The Company's efforts in this area can be traced back to 2016, when it announced the five pillars of “places, people, partners, environmental performance and economic performance” – its foundations for promoting sustainable development.

Hui also pointed out that companies should not only focus on short-term performance, but also develop strategic foresight. Sustainable development efforts would not pay off immediately, but are extremely beneficial to companies' long-term development, turning companies into “time-honored brands”. Stepping into the future, Swire Properties will promote low-carbon development, efficient resources utilisation and digitalisation, as well as enrol tenants into the “Green Performance Pledge” programme, and continue to enrich the source of green financing.