As set out in our SD 2030 Strategy, communication and engagement with employees, investors, tenants, customers, suppliers, regulators, NGOs, community representatives and our many other stakeholders is an integral part of Swire Properties’ daily operations.

We regularly engage with our stakeholders to understand their priorities, expectations and perceptions regarding SD issues. When we first introduced our SD 2030 Strategy in 2016, we engaged extensively with senior managers and employees from across the business and consulted external sustainability experts. Our SD Communication and Engagement Committee continues to gather the support of our employees and other stakeholders to further integrate SD 2030 across our business.

In the past we measured the materiality of a particular issue based on the level of importance to stakeholders. This was based on feedback from external stakeholders, and the importance to our business continuity and development as reflected by feedback from internal stakeholders. In 2023, we embraced double materiality, taking into consideration the issues’ impacts on the organisation (internal materiality) and the organisation’s impact on these issues (external materiality). This approach considers the interconnectedness between our business activities, stakeholder expectations and the environment. It enables us to identify and prioritise material issues that may have significant consequences for our stakeholders, while also aligning with long-term sustainability goals and addressing systemic risks.

Embracing this more robust and data-driven approach to materiality will strengthen our ability to proactively manage risks, seize opportunities and foster sustainable practices that contribute to the wellbeing of our stakeholders, our organisation and the world at large.

The development of this double materiality approach is discussed in the “Our Evolving Approach to Stakeholder-driven Materiality” section below.

In 2020, we initiated a materiality review to understand our stakeholders’ perceptions regarding the progress of our SD 2030 Strategy and their evolving expectations and priorities for the future. These perceptions helped further align our business practices, improved our decision-making and accountability, and guided the refinement of our strategy and focus areas in response to the latest local, regional and global developments.

In 2021, we continued this process, adopting a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to assessing materiality. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we gathered stakeholders’ feedback to gain greater understanding of the pandemic’s effects on their businesses, the real estate industry and our operations. The findings provided insights into ways of providing support to our stakeholders during challenging times.

In 2023, to gain a deeper understanding of what aspects are important to the Company’s business continuity and development, and to remain in line with Corporate Sustainability Reporting requirements, we began conducting a new materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement exercise based on the concept of “double materiality”. Proposed by the European Commission’s Guidelines on Reporting Climate-related Information, double materiality encourages a company to assess materiality based on a topic’s implications for the company’s financial performance (financial materiality); on communities and the environment (impact materiality); and the interconnectivity between the two. This “financial-and-impact-based” double materiality will allow us to better assess the integration of sustainability within our business, understand our sustainability impact and align with global best practices in reporting.

Amongst the 590+ responses received, 90% of our surveyed stakeholders perceive Swire Properties as a leader in sustainability. Both internal and external stakeholders recognise decarbonisation, occupational health and safety, and climate adaptation and resilience as issues with significant impacts on the Company, environment and society. Furthermore, there has also been a growth in the recognition of the importance of biodiversity during the time since the last materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement.

Swire Properties is continuing to build on and refine our approach to materiality. In 2023, we undertook a revamped and in-depth materiality assessment and stakeholder engagement exercise based on the concept of double materiality. Led by an independent consultant, the five-phase, mixed-method project aimed to deliver a broad and deep range of insights. For full details on the phases and methodology, please refer to our Sustainability Report 2023.