HKQAA Sustainability Rating and Research

Introduction

Under the trend of globalization, there is an increasing concern about the responsibility for labour practices, environmental, consumer and other public issues. Companies need to be more aware of their impact on the society, since their stakeholders are very concerned about their performance towards society and the environment. Nowadays, the measurement of corporate performance is no longer confined by their profitability, but also their commitment and implementation of various principles of social responsibility, such as transparency, accountability, ethical behaviour, respect for stakeholder interests, respect for the rule of law and respect for human rights. Economic, social and environmental performances are the three bottom lines and metrics used to measure the company’s ability to continue operating successfully.

The HKQAA Sustainability Rating and Research (“HKQAA SRR”) is designed to rate a company’s system maturity and risks with regard to sustainability performance, based on and with reference to international guidelines and frameworks, such as ISO 26000:2010 Guidance on social responsibility, the GRI Standards, ISSB’s Exposure Drafts on General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information and Climate-related Disclosures, Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures, the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, the SASB Standards, the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact, CDP Climate Change 2023 Reporting Guidance, Guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting for Chinese Enterprises CASS-CSR 4.0 and the Guidance for Enterprise ESG Disclosure T/CERDS 2-2022 issued by the China Enterprise Reform and Development Society. A fact-based scoring approach is applied in rating the companies’ ability to manage its sustainability performance and risk. In order for the scoring to be conducted in an objective manner, the assessor should base on the available implementation evidence to determine the system’s management maturity and relevant risk level.