On the evening of September 16, 2021, the Environmental Science Programme and the Environmental Science Academic Society have successfully co-organized two sharing sessions titled "Sustainable Development and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)" and "Environmental Science Graduates' Postgraduate Experiences" respectively.

Two Environmental Science alumni currently working in sustainable development-related industries were invited to the sharing session. They were 1) Ou Yingying (graduated in 2020), a master student in the Environmental Design and Engineering Programme of UCL and an intern in the consultancy division of Price water house Coopers (PWC); and 2) Xie Yi (graduated in 2012), who works as a sustainability director for a natural gas utility company in Hong Kong.

The two alumni shared their experiences in career development after graduation from different perspectives in order to improve students' understanding of sustainable development as well as to broaden their career pathways and international vision.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that it might be inconvenient for the alumni to attend the sharing sessions physically, a combination of online and offline modes was adopted for the sessions. The sharing sessions were interesting and beneficial to the students.

In the sharing sessions, Ms. Ou Yingying explained the different requirements for corporate ESG report disclosure, for instance ESG reporting is voluntary for EU and A-listed companies while it is mandatory for Japanese companies and companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

At the same time, she also shared three areas of concern in ESG: writing ESG reports, improving ESG index levels and assessing ESG compliance risks. According to her, the ESG disclosure report consists of three parts, namely environmental area (renewable energy, water resources and climate change), social area (health and safety, employees’ development and training, anti-corruption) and governance area (sustainability management group, climate change-related risk governance).

Meanwhile, assessing agencies evaluate companies' ESG performance based on questionnaires and public information. Listed companies could attract more investors by improving ESG performance. Ms. Ou Yingying suggested that Environmental Science students could learn more about sustainable development, make adequate preparations for employment, and enhance their competitiveness.

Subsequently, Ms. Xie Yi, illustrated the relevant measures China has recently taken to address environmental issues, such as the 2030 carbon peak and the 2060 carbon neutralization plan.

Ms. Xie Yi mentioned that many companies have adopted carbon reduction policies. This has led to more job vacancies and the creation of new environment-related positions such as carbon auditors.

She explained the concept and importance of ESG to us once again. She pointed out that her company would seek advice from consulting agencies to obtain better sustainable solutions. In addition, Ms. Xie Yi suggested that graduates can choose to work in consulting companies so that they could gain exposure to more projects to develop their competency. At the same time, she suggested that students of environmental science should keep up with new policies, pay attention to ESG reporting of listed companies, attend more seminars and speeches to enhance their competitiveness and think more about the future career development.

After the insightful sharing by the alumni, Dr. Tsim SiuTai, the director of the Environmental Science Programme, shared the statistics of postgraduate admissions of environmental science graduates from 2009 to 2021 to serve as a guide and reference for the undergraduate students to continue their studies after graduation. Dr. Tsim encouraged everyone to actively pursue their dreams, improve themselves and achieve their potentials!

The sharing session was successfully concluded. The earnest teachings and valuable experiences of professors and alumni broadened the students' horizons and provided them with effective reference for postgraduate study and work.

Finally, it is the hope of the Environmental Science Programme that all students can achieve the desired results and get the postgraduate offers of their choice!

From ENVS

Reporters: Tan Yuanyuan, Zheng Kaiyun, Xie Jiayin

Photographer: Tsim SiuTai

Editor: Li Yang