Cathay Pacific 2009 Annual Report Download - page 11

2009 in Review
We participated in the World Wildlife Fund for
Nature-sponsored activity, Earth Hour, in March
2009, switching off all non-essential lighting in our
buildings and billboards in support.
In April we joined the Climate Group-sponsored
Carbon Reduction Programme, encouraging staff to
be environmentally friendly in their homes.
We bought 20,000 tonnes of offsets from Climate
Care in May for our FLY greener carbon offset
programme. These covered contributions to a
natural gas project in Beijing, wind farm projects in
Heilongjiang and a run-of-river hydro project in
Sanchawan, Mainland China.
In June we announced our support for IATA’s
commitment to a 1.5% per annum fuel efficiency
improvement until 2020; carbon neutral growth by
2020 and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by
2050 from 2005 levels.
We participated in a Friends of the Earth-sponsored
activity called “Dim It 6.21”, which called on
companies to dim their lights for two hours
from 8 p.m.
Our Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) report
for 2008 earned an A+ Global Reporting Initiative
Rating, verified by consultancy firm Environmental
Resources Management.
In July we joined the Sustainable Aviation Fuel
Users Group, an airline-led industry working group
working to accelerate the commercialisation of
aviation biofuels by developing robust, global
sustainability criteria and best practices for the
aviation biofuel markets.
In September, Cathay Pacific was listed in the
prestigious FTSE4 Good Index Series, designed
to measure the performance of companies
that meet globally recognised corporate
responsibility standards.
In September, Cathay Pacific and Dragonair
signed the Copenhagen Communiqué – the
definitive statement from the international
business community ahead of the United Nations
climate change conference held in Copenhagen
in December.
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Using shorter routes over the Pearl River
Delta will save up to 67,000 tonnes of CO2
emissions annually.
We communicated with frequent flyers, institutional
investors, environmental NGOs and suppliers about
our CSR report and environmental activities.
Cathay Pacific was once again the Official Carrier for
the Greener Skies Conference in Hong Kong.
In December, the ISO 14001 certification for our
headquarters, Cathay Pacific City, was extended to
include Dragonair House.
Dragonair consulted for the first time with cabin
crew in order to understand better their views on a
variety of social and environmental issues. More
consultations will be conducted in 2010.
An internal awareness campaign was run at
Dragonair from October to December, aiming to
increase environmental awareness among staff.
Among the awards we received in 2009 were
“First Runner Up – Best Sustainability Report” from
the ACCA HK Awards for Sustainability Reporting
from the Association of Chartered Certified
Accountants Hong Kong; the “Best Environmental
Performance Airline 2009” award from the Centre
for Asia Pacific Aviation; a Bronze Award in the
“Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence”
and a “National Enterprise Environmental
Achievement Award” from the Hong Kong
Environmental Protection Association.
Contribution to the community
We opened applications for the fourth “I Can Fly”
programme in December, inviting 100 Hong Kong
teenagers to take part in a programme of aviation
learning and social-service activities in 2010, run
under the guidance of our staff.
Cathay Pacific and Dragonair offered special fares to
those employed under The Government of the Hong
Kong Special Administrative Region’s Internship
Programme for University Graduates.
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Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Annual Report 2009 9