Hactl welcomes SBTi approval for its emissions targets

Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl), Hong Kong’s biggest independent cargo handler, has received approval from the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Target Validation team of its targets on greenhouse gas emissions reduction.

SBTi has confirmed that Hactl’s targets comply with SBTi Criteria and Recommendations, and that Hactl’s scope 1 and 2 target ambition is in line with a 1.5°C trajectory for limiting global temperature rises.

Established in 1976, Hactl serves more than 100 airline companies and 1,000 freight forwarders. Its home hub, SuperTerminal 1, is Hong Kong’s largest cargo handling facility.

SBTi – a collaboration between non-profit body CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – is a global body that enables companies and financial institutions to set ambitious emissions reduction targets in line with the latest climate science.

Its goal is for businesses across the world to support the global economy to halve emissions before 2030, and achieve net-zero before 2050.

Hactl made a public commitment to SBTi in 2022. Since then, Hactl’s Safety, Sustainability and Quality Assurance team has worked on setting targets based on SBTi criteria.

The handler has now committed to reducing its absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50.4% by 2030, from a 2018 base line.

The company has also committed to reducing absolute scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services, fuel- and energy-related activities, waste generated in operations, employee commuting and downstream leased assets by 50.4% within the same timeframe.

A range of measures
Among the many measures Hactl plans to use to achieve its SBTi targets are: replacing internal combustion-powered vehicles and airside ground support equipment (GSE) with electric equivalents; procuring Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs); increasing the use of energy efficient lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems; working with suppliers to reduce Hactl’s upstream emissions, especially from purchased goods and services; implementing digital management systems to eliminate paper use; and devising innovative ways of diverting wood, paper, plastics, and mixed waste from landfill.

Wilson Kwong, Hactl’s chief executive, declared: “SBTi is the gold standard in targeting and reporting reductions in emissions. We are proud to be an early adopter of the scheme in the aviation sector, and to have had our near-term targets approved.

“But this is just the first step. The latest climate science from the IPCC [the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] shows it is still possible to limit global temperature rises to 1.5°C, but we are running dangerously close to that threshold.

“Urgent action is therefore vital, and Hactl aims both to play its part and set an example for our industry,” Kwong added.