Climate Change Data

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Corporate Governance
• Environment
• Customer and Supply Chain Management
• Talent Management
• Social Responsibility

Environmental Achievements

• Intensity of greenhouse gases emission decreased by 1.8% year-on-year
• Intensity of hazardous wastes decreased by 2.7% year-on-year
• Intensity of energy consumption decreased by 3.4% year-on-year
• Intensity of water consumption decreased by 13.7% year-on-year
• Intensity of packaging material consumption of finished products decreased by 36.0% year-on-year
• Water recycling rate further increased to 95.3%
• CO2 emission reduction from green electricity generated by solar farms compared to the CO2 emission from solar glass production was 111%

Social Achievements

• Employee turnover rate decreased by nearly 9 percentage points to 18.6%
• Provided 47,479 hours of training for employees, including 3,469 hours of external trainings, with the participation of 26,156 persons

Governance Achievements

• Improved ESG management structure
• Identified ESG risks (including climate change risks)
• Adopted a more scientific tool to conduct a materiality assessment

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Extreme weather events affecting solar farm construction and operation
• Water shortage
• Stricter environmental protection policies
• Changes in demand for glass products due to technological advancements
• Stringent environmental protection requirements in overseas markets

Mitigation Strategies

• Enhanced safety awareness of construction workers
• Cooling measures for high-temperature weather
• Continuous optimisation of water recycling system
• Expanding global procurement channels
• Actively promoting research and development of new products
• Implementing green production and reducing pollution emission and energy consumption

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: Approximately 87% of major suppliers were domestic, 13% overseas. All complied with procurement regulations and tendering procedures.

Responsible Procurement

• Ethical and sustainable procurement principles
• Supplier review process
• Prioritising reputable suppliers
• Requiring integrity commitments and declarations of interest from suppliers
• Procurement contracts with quality, safety, and environmental commitments

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather (typhoons, heavy rainfall)
• High temperatures leading to heat stroke

Transition Risks

• Stricter environmental protection policies
• Changes in demand for glass products due to technological advancements

Opportunities

• Increased demand for renewable energy

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: Hong Kong Stock Exchange ESG Reporting Guide

Certifications: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, OHSAS 18001:2007, CCC, RoHS, REACH

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 1: No Poverty
• Goal 2: Zero Hunger
• Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
• Goal 4: Quality Education
• Goal 5: Gender Equality
• Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
• Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
• Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities
• Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
• Goal 13: Climate Action
• Goal 15: Life on Land
• Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
• Goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals

The report details how various initiatives contribute to each of these goals.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• 2.0 mm solar glass

Awards & Recognition

• AAA Credit Rating (Anhui Provincial Development and Reform Commission)
• Advanced Institution of High-Quality Development, Wuhu City
• Qualified and Safe and Trustworthy Product for Consumer
• Top 100 Private Enterprises in Manufacturing Industry (Anhui)
• Water-saving Enterprise (Tianjin)

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Environmental
• Social
• Governance

Environmental Achievements

• Installed solar power generation system on the rooftop of its new production complex in Guangxi.
• Implemented different measures to further reduce greenhouse gases emissions per unit of solar glass output, improve the water recycling utilisation rate and promote more environmentally friendly product packaging.

Social Achievements

• Maintained good working relationship with its employees and provides training when necessary to keep its employees informed of the latest information on developments of its products and production processes.
• Donations by the Group for charitable and other purposes during the year ended 31 December 2020 amounted to HK$15,713,000 (2019: HK$984,000).

Governance Achievements

• Adopted the Corporate Governance Code (the “CG Code ”) set out in Appendix 14 of the Rules Governing the Listing of Securities (the “Listing Rules ”) on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the “Stock Exchange ”) throughout the year of 2020.
• Complied with Rules 3.10 and 3.10A of the Listing Rules relating to the appointment of at least three independent non-executive directors

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Supply chain disruptions and construction delays of PV projects because of the novel coronavirus (the “COVID-19 ”) pandemic during the first half of 2020.
• Rising raw material costs.
• Solar glass shortage in the second half of 2020 due to excessive demand.
• Torrential rain and severe flooding in middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River which reduced the power output of the Group’s solar farms during summer.
• Delays in subsidy collection in relation to electricity generation of its subsidised solar farm projects.

Mitigation Strategies

• Adopted flexible business strategies, strengthened cost control measures and enriched its product portfolios to sharpen its competitive edge.
• Developed its first low-iron silica sand mine, which is located near its production complex in Guangxi.
• Added two new solar glass production lines with a daily melting capacity of 1,000 tonnes each in June and August 2020.
• Adopted flexible pricing and proactive marketing strategies.
• Shifted development focus towards non-subsidised (grid parity) projects.
• Strived to enhance the operational efficiency of its solar farms by monitoring the operating statistics on a real-time basis, performing regular cleaning, and implementing timely maintenance to minimise the risk of mechanical breakdown.

Supply Chain Management

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Climate change and unpredictable weather patterns can cause output shortfalls and volatile returns.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Successfully developed and launched a wide range of solar glass products (including thin glass and large format glass) during the year for different applications of solar modules.

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Climate change
• Green manufacturing
• Sustainable supply chain
• Human rights
• Employee well-being
• Responsible consumption and production

Environmental Achievements

• Reduced energy consumption intensity by 15.1%
• Reduced water consumption intensity by 7.8%
• Reduced greenhouse gas emissions intensity by 13.3%
• Increased water recycling rate to 94.6%
• Reduced packaging materials per unit by 8.8%
• Increased paperless packaging utilization rate to 46.1%
• CO2 emission reduction of 3,640,000 tonnes from solar farms

Social Achievements

• Added 1,387 jobs
• Zero work-related deaths
• Reduced lost workday rate by 6.0%
• Charity donations of HK$13.29 million
• Increased employee training hours by 118.7%

Governance Achievements

• Continued to optimize governance framework
• Strengthened Board supervision of ESG matters
• Implemented a board diversity policy
• Improved climate-related risk management

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Supply chain disruptions due to extreme weather events
• Increased energy and raw material costs
• Stringent energy efficiency and environmental control policies
• Potential impact of carbon pricing and EU carbon tariffs
• Increased employee turnover

Mitigation Strategies

• Developed alternative sourcing strategies
• Implemented energy-saving and emission-reduction measures
• Expanded overseas production capacity
• Increased R&D investment in low-carbon technologies
• Improved employee compensation and benefits
• Enhanced employee training and engagement

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 100% coverage

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct
• Conflict Minerals Procurement Policy
• Green Procurement Agreement

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather events
• Changes in precipitation patterns
• Increased average temperature

Transition Risks

• Carbon pricing
• Energy efficiency policies
• EU carbon tariffs
• Low-carbon technology transformation

Opportunities

• Increased demand for solar glass and solar farms
• Opportunities for low-carbon technology development

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, SASB, TCFD

Certifications: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, CCC, REACH, RoHS

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• SDG 7
• SDG 8
• SDG 9
• SDG 12
• SDG 13

Initiatives align with these goals through green manufacturing, sustainable supply chains, renewable energy investment, and community engagement

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• Thin glass
• Large-format glass
• Ultra-high transmittance products

Awards & Recognition

• World's 100 Most Sustainable Corporations
• Most Honoured Company (Institutional Investor)
• Various other awards

Environmental Metrics

ESG Focus Areas

• Corporate governance
• Response to climate change
• Sustainable operation
• Value chain and community development
• Talent management and cultivation

Environmental Achievements

• Intensity of energy consumption decreased by 8.6%
• Intensity of water consumption decreased by 29.1%
• Water recycling rate was 96.0%
• Packaging materials per unit of product decreased by 33.0%
• Paperless packaging utilisation rate was 64.3%
• Intensity of greenhouse gas emissions decreased by 12.3%
• CO2 emissions reduction from the power generation of the solar farms held during the Reporting Year increased by 14.0%
• Reduction in NOx, SO2 and particulates emissions increased by 92.6%, 83.2% and 95.7% respectively

Social Achievements

• Zero work-related death cases
• Work-related injury rate: 0.71
• Each employee received eight hours of occupational skills and personal skills training, covering 99.6% of full-time employees
• Provided education fund of RMB544,000 for employees’ children
• Formally signed and joined the UN Global Compact on 23 October 2023 to support its Ten Principles related to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.
• Donated money and materials with a total value of HK$18.3 million to help rural revitalisation, poverty alleviation, flood control, disaster relief and medical assistance

Governance Achievements

• Established a “Three-in-One” standardised corporate management system and obtained certifications of Quality Management System (ISO9001:2015), Environmental Management System (ISO14001:2015) and Occupational Health and Safety Management System (ISO45001:2018)
• Launch of product carbon footprint certification (ISO14067:2018) during the Reporting Year and is expected to be completed in 2024

Climate Goals & Targets

Environmental Challenges

• Extreme weather events damaging solar power generation equipment and disrupting product delivery
• Long-term climate changes affecting power generation and employee health
• Potential increase in carbon emission compliance costs due to inclusion in carbon trading market
• Stricter energy efficiency and environmental protection controls restricting capacity expansion
• Need to transform to lower emission technology
• EU carbon tariff and low-carbon PV module demands
• Renewable energy consumption issues in China's power system
• Trade disputes and PV supply chain traceability

Mitigation Strategies

• Comprehensive assessment of climate risks and adoption of higher protection performance materials
• 24-hour remote monitoring to identify abnormal conditions
• Disaster prevention measures and standardised emergency procedures
• Controlling raw material inventory levels
• Improving transportation capacity
• Improving construction safety awareness
• Accumulating historical data for site selection of new solar farms
• Improving power generation efficiency through efficient operation and maintenance
• Formulating heatstroke prevention and cooling measures
• Identifying climate risks and opportunities and formulating action plans
• Completing the carbon footprint assessment of solar glass products in 2024
• Continuously improving the assessment and analysis of climate and other environmental risks
• Formulating annual action plans and goals, and implementing energy saving and consumption reduction measures
• Expanding overseas production capacity
• Maintaining industry-leading energy efficiency and environmental protection performance
• Exploring low-carbon/decarbonisation furnace technology
• Continuously reducing unit energy consumption and electricity consumption
• Setting a five-year quantitative goal to reduce the carbon emission intensity of solar glass products
• Exploring the feasibility of low-carbon/decarbonisation furnace technology
• Flexibly arranging different production bases to supply products overseas
• Accelerating overseas production expansion
• Looking for areas with strong local demand for electricity for new solar farm projects
• Developing PV power forecasting system

Supply Chain Management

Supplier Audits: 3,136

Responsible Procurement

• Supplier Code of Conduct
• Green Procurement Agreement
• Conflict Minerals Procurement Agreement
• Safety Management Requirements for Related Parties
• Integrity Management System

Climate-Related Risks & Opportunities

Physical Risks

• Extreme weather events
• Changes in precipitation patterns
• Increase in average temperature

Transition Risks

• Carbon Emissions Trading
• Strengthen energy efficiency and environmental protection control
• Transforming to lower emission technology
• Full life cycle carbon emission management of PV products
• Consumption issues of renewable energy

Opportunities

• Increased demand for solar glass and PV power generation due to global energy transition

Reporting Standards

Frameworks Used: GRI, SASB, TCFD

Certifications: ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 45001:2018, ISO14067:2018

UN Sustainable Development Goals

• Goal 7
• Goal 8
• Goal 9
• Goal 12
• Goal 13

The Group is committed to responding to the call of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in its operation and production process, taking all feasible measures to perform responsible consumption and production, reducing the carbon footprint of the full life cycle of solar glass products and other negative impacts on the environment, while providing decent work for employees and promoting local economic growth.

Sustainable Products & Innovation

• 2.0mm glass
• Ultra-high transmittance glass

Awards & Recognition

• Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations (three consecutive years)
• All-Star Status in the 2023 Asia (ex-Japan) Executive Team Survey
• Best Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance
• Best Investor Relations Company
• Best Board of Directors
• Best CEO
• Best CFO
• Best Investor Relations Professional