Our Vision
To inspire everyone to unleash their potential to change the future of our planet just like they can change their own futures.
Our Mission
(1) to enhance the quality of the environment; (2) to promote a green economy; and (3) to improve people’s livelihoods, especially underprivileged groups. The WGO is implementing its mission and organisational objectives through a range of research and community programmes. We are committed to championing revolutionary green movement with integrated and win-win solutions for all three dimensions of sustainability – social, economic, and environmental.
Our Beliefs
Promoting Humans and Nature as ONE: The WGO responds to an increasing desire from the community for a harmonious relationship with nature through the simultaneous consideration of environmental, social, and economic needs.
Fostering a sharing spirit: The WGO is backed by a panel of international and local leading professors and experts in the field of environmental and social sustainability. We act as a hub for policy research, provide a network of experts, and facilitate collaboration among various stakeholders.
Adopting a Scientific Approach: The WGO believes in knowledge and adopts a scientific methodology. We are a research-based think tank that brings together “Green Brains” from across the world to provide insights, policy wisdom, and practical solutions that address social and environmental challenges.
Promoting Green Culture: The WGO aims at boosting the public’s understanding about environmental protection. We shall promote a green lifestyle by organising the “Green Hong Kong Campaign” and staging the annual “Green Festival” and “Green Concert”.
The WGO’s Foci
- To address the conflicts between development goals and environmental goals;
- To reduce the negative health impacts of climate change on low-income groups, and to improve the quality of life of underprivileged families;
- To address the environmental degradation brought about by development projects through the adoption of international best practices.
Not only does environmental protection relate to social policies, but it also entails a pledge to change personal lifestyles. When we live a basic, simple lifewithout wasting environmental resources, we can live in harmony with Mother Nature.
WGO willwork with you in redefining the meaning of being “Green”. As World Citizens, we shall take action today to promote aenvironmental revolution. Through this, we shall stop pollution, create opportunities to become greener and maintain a quality living environment for us and the next generation.
Policy Focus:
- energy
- air quality
- climate change
- poverty
- green building
- social and environmental costs
- waste management
- social engagement
- green economy
- public health
- stakeholder engagement
WGO’s Objectives:
OBJECTIVE 1 – ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT
The ocean is filled with about 165 million tons of plastic. By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish. To combat this environmental devastation, the WGO launched the ‘Recycle Together – Clean PET Bottle Reward Programme’ to engage the public in a large-scale incentivized plastic bottle recycling programme in collaboration with the Coca-Cola Foundation (US) and Coca-Cola HK in 2019. Over 200 mobile collection points were set up in residential areas, club houses, public areas, schools and shopping malls with the support of staff and volunteers. So far, over 310,000 clean plastic bottles have been collected for recycling within 8 months. The programme will continue in 2020.
The WGO also line up Octopus card (Hong Kong’s metro payment card) with Swire Coca-Cola to launch a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) for bottle recycling and to reward the citizens through credits to the Octopus card. The RVMs are located in university, public transport station, social service centre and many others. Over 1,900,000 bottles were collected through RVM. The programme will continue in 2020.
OBJECTIVE 2 – PROMOTING A GREEN ECONOMY
The WGO collaborated with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) to co-organize the “UN Climate Finance & Sustainable Investing Conference 2019” in Hong Kong. This conference leveraged Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre to build an international platform, bringing together policymakers, private businesses, green technology companies, and financial sectors to discuss the pressing issues in Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) reporting, Green Bonds and Infrastructure Financing, Public-private Partnerships, and promoting climate-resilient investment to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and scale the Asia-Pacific’s green capital market. This conference included 400 attendees and speakers from Allianz Global Investors, Asian Development Bank Institute, BCT Group, Blackrock, Hong Kong Monetary Authority, Hang Seng Sustainability Index, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, IFC (World Bank Group), Morgan Stanley Asia, Securities and Futures Commission HK, S&P Global Ratings, Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management, HK Science Park, Towngas and others. The WGO is organising a follow-up conference in Hong Kong in 2020.
https://www.unescap.org/events/climate-finance-and-sustainable-investing-conference-2019
The WGO has also established the largest Green Office Scheme in Hong Kong. A business engagement network with over 400 business corporations and NGOs participated in the WGO’s Green Office Awards Labelling Scheme (GOALS). The participating companies, estimated to have over 400,000 employees, aim to improve workplace sustainability through energy, water, and paper use reduction as well as waste and carbon reduction through the scheme.
https://thewgo.org/website/eng/goals-green-office/
OBJECTIVE 3 – IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF VULNERABLE POPULATIONS IN HK
The WGO’s Energy Poverty Programme helped over 400 low-income families in sub-divided flats to reduce their economic burden by cutting down their electricity bills through replacing their electrical appliances with more efficient models and equipping them with energy saving knowledge and skills. As part of this Programme, the WGO created an “Energy Poverty Lab,” which simulated an adverse living environment and demonstrated to the public the possible impacts of heat stress on vulnerable groups.
In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) and international academic scholars visited the WGO’s Lab to learn about these impacts. In addition, the WGO collaborated with the Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Polytechnic University to research and understand environmental hygiene, indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and indoor air quality (IAQ) of partitioned homes. As a result of this research, the WGO presented recommendations to tenants of partitioned homes and to policymakers. The WGO also published several joint academic paper.
