New commitments in carbon neutrality and diversity, and supporting communities during the pandemic
The Cathay Pacific Group has released its comprehensive annual Sustainable Development Report that addresses its commitment and progress in the areas of environmental, social and governance, which are of great importance to its stakeholders, and towards its goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Regional General Manager, South Asia Middle East and Africa (SAMEA), Rakesh Raicar said, “We continue to ramp up our efforts to fight climate change and have made specific tangible progress towards supporting and prioritizing our sustainability issues which are communicated in our 2021 Sustainable Development Report. This includes supporting our communities in India by transporting essential aid during this global health crisis, and making new commitments towards the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in our operations. We are certain, together with our partners and customers, we will continue to positively contribute to the environment and communities, and also connect Hong Kong to the world in sustainable ways as recovery accelerates.”
Some highlights from the 2021 report include:
• Helping to deliver vaccinations around the world: We raced against time to develop a dedicated Vaccine Solution to make COVID-19 vaccines available to global communities. In 2021, over 165 million vaccine doses along with other essential medical supplies were delivered to Hong Kong and beyond by our airlines.
• Making progress towards carbon neutrality: We became one of the first airlines in Asia to target 10% SAF use by 2030 and have committed to purchasing more than 350 million gallons of SAF beginning from 2024 alongside our Oneworld Alliance peers. We also co-founded the Aviation Climate Taskforce, an industry platform through which we will accelerate the development of breakthrough technologies that will help drive the decarbonisation of civil aviation. We also developed Asia’s first major Corporate SAF Program in 2021, which came to fruition in April this year with the launch of its pilot phase, bringing SAF into Hong Kong International Airport for uplift for the very first time.
• Strong commitment to diversity: We have pledged to increase female representation at senior positions by 25% – reaching 30% in total – by 2025. To drive changes, a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Steering Committee and a dedicated team were set up in 2021.
