Practice ESG concept with action and hope that carbon neutral hotel will be promoted to the mainland

Photo: Fu Hui Wan Chai Hotel became the first carbon neutral hotel in Hong Kong as early as 2010.

With the global environmental awareness rising, ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) has become the focus of attention from all walks of life. Regal Hotel (00078) is forward-looking in environmental protection and became the first carbon-neutral hotel in Hong Kong as early as 2010. Luo Baowen, vice chairman of Regal Hotel, admitted that when the relevant policies were introduced in the hotel in the early days, many people stayed in the hotel because of environmental protection. However, with more and more young people and large companies considering environmental protection as one of the factors for booking hotels, the Group's efforts on ESG have gradually gained recognition from all walks of life.

I was asked why I pay more attention to ESG because there are many topics in society. In an exclusive interview with Ta Kung Pao, Luo Baowen explained the reason. It turned out that studying psychology at university made her particularly concerned about the mental health of the next generation and realized that the soul is closely related to environmental protection. Furthermore, as a dog lover, Luo Baowen takes his dog to country parks from time to time to enjoy the beautiful nature and cherish it more, so he hopes to contribute more to ESG and environmental protection.

The 5R Principle of Regal Hotel Upgrade Symbol

For this reason, Luo Baowen established the first carbon-neutral hotel in Hong Kong-Fuhui Hotel as early as 2010, hoping to help slow down climate warming in a professional and effective way. She has always attached importance to innovation and the best business model, hoping to introduce more low-carbon plans and provide climate care services in hotels. Luo Baowen also hopes to introduce "Fuhui Hotel" into the mainland, the Middle East and other Asian markets, set more net zero-carbon targets based on science and technology, and cooperate with the national double-carbon strategy to become a pioneer in the hotel industry with sustainable development, bringing different green tourism experiences to customers.

In promoting ESG, Regal Hotel has introduced a number of measures, including: reducing carbon emissions, saving energy, strengthening energy and water conservation, implementing waste management plans and routines, exploring the use of renewable energy, and practicing the "5R principles", namely, reducing waste, reusing everything, Recycle, reforming waste and rejecting use.

At the same time, the Group has upgraded a number of facilities, and plans to convert all lighting equipment into more energy-saving LED lighting equipment by 2028, equipped with dynamic and sunlight sensors; Upgrade all motors to high-efficiency models (IE3 or above) by 2030; Eliminate diesel power equipment and replace it with natural gas power equipment; Sign a performance-based contract with a professional contractor to implement an energy-saving plan for the hotel's cooling units; Monitor the energy consumption of restaurants and guest rooms to meet the operational needs, and turn off some lights during low utilization.

Set up a fund to invest in environmental protection technology

In addition to promoting environmental protection in hotel business, Luo Baowen has also set up an environmental protection technology fund "AlphaTrio Fund" with Asia as the core, in order to solve the most pressing environmental problems in the world with innovative eucalyptus. She admits that in the face of the uncertain macro environment, financing is very difficult at present, and investment needs to be cautious, and risks cannot be completely avoided. At the same time, she thinks that it is the best time to invest, because many start-ups are relatively easy to negotiate under the current market conditions. At present, the scale of the fund is about US$ 100 million (about HK$ 780 million), and it has invested in dozens of companies, mainly those that are optimistic about agriculture and food technology, clean energy technology and green building technology.