Letter from Chief Sustainability Officer
HTC has been focusing on not only product innovation but also CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) related topics. In 2012, we set up a CSR Committee to oversee all the internal and external CSR tasks. As the world continues to pay high attention to the climate change and sustainability, we upgraded CSR Committee to ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Committee in the beginning of this year. Our chairperson Cher leads the ESG Committee as the chairperson and all BU (Business Unit) heads participate as members of the ESG Committee. HTC has also appointed a Chief Sustainability Officer role and set up an ESG Office to extend CSR to more comprehensive ESG strategies and policies. By doing so, we cover all the three aspects of ESG and take sustainability into work and life with full actions, to build the consensus from HTC fellow employees and lead HTC to keep moving forward.
In terms of the environment, as a citizen of the world, net-zero is our absolute goal. Our achievements so far include the GHG measurement and green product supply chain. Starting from 2022, we will also begin conducting the product carbon footprint measurement, hoping to find out every possibility of energy saving and carbon emission reduction by measuring carbon footprint from organization and product level. For example, we have begun investigating the possible carbon emissions per kilogram of the raw materials used in our products, and then find out more cost-effective and lower carbon footprint materials for replacement to reduce the carbon footprint from the source. We found that the cost did not necessarily increase but potentially decrease while gradually practicing carbon footprint reduction. For example, the previous product packaging adopted multiple-color printing and strong structure for great quality and protection. After redesigning and optimizing the packaging, we adopted high-quality non-colored recycled paper, and at the same time, simplified the printing as mono color with soy ink. We also improved the package structure design to reduce the package dimension, which also reduces transportation costs while caring for the environment.
In terms of society, as a leading brand company, we support the basic values of human rights, employ talents with equality and diversity. HTC stands strong on the ground of gender equality as one of the key human rights. As a well-known female entrepreneur, our chairwoman and CEO is a role model in our efforts to encourage women to be active in their profession, and we strive to create discrimination-free working environment and empower women to take high-level managing positions, enabling HTC to be a corporation where female managers and supervisors stand out in number, and parental leave and employment rights are secured as part of our welfare policy. Employees regardless of genders not only assist and support one another in our organization, but also jointly create a harmonious working environment.
In recent years, under the interaction of the COVID-19 pandemic and the global political/economic situation, the overall environment has undergone drastic changes. Fortunately, HTC has kept the production line in Taiwan, so the environment was relatively stable during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted early material preparation and strategic procurement to avoid supply chain disruption. We also paid more attention on production efficiency and the relationship with our suppliers, which further strengthened HTC's resilience to various risks. In the future, we will also strengthen our corresponding actions to the risks brought by climate change, and implement sustainable strategies in Governance. Our continuing internal disclosure of sustainability performance and information sharing helps raise HTC employees’ awareness on sustainability, bring recognition for our dedication to Environment, Social, and Governance, and makes our employees proud to be part of HTC.
HTC Corporation
Chief Sustainability Officer
Madeline Chen