ESG Committee
To ensure effective discussion and treatment of CSR Topics, HTC has run a CSR Committee since 2012, and has also set up a dedicated team- Quality and Sustainability Management for formulating CSR policies, drawing up related action plans, performing cross-department coordination, and handling communication with, and feedback from, the external stakeholders and our key suppliers. The annual CSR performance and next year execution plan will review by the Auditing Committee under the Board of Directors at least once annually. After the FSC officially launched the Corporate Governance 3.0 - Sustainable Development Blueprint, in addition to our existing corporate social responsibility, HTC has also incorporated economic, environmental, and social-related Topics to respond to the expectations of stakeholders.
In early 2022, HTC upgraded CSR Committee to ESG (Environment, Social, and Governance) Committee, committee, chaired by the Chairwoman. HTC also appointed its first Chief Sustainability Officer in Senior VP Madeline Chen, and members of executives as ESG committee members.
We hope to implement the sustainable operations of our corporation by striking a balance between the economy, environment, society, etc. areas. With a clear organization and division of labor, relevant departments can be included in management actions through interdepartmental meetings, thereby driving the overall sustainable development and innovation of HTC and ensuring that relevant policies and initiatives are incorporated into the company’s daily operations.
Our Sustainability Commitment
Our Human Right Commitment:
According to the
"United Nations Global Compact”
and
“United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
, we are committed to upholding the fundamental principles of human rights for all of our workers and through daily operational practices. For HTC, we comply with local regulations and avoid human rights violations through regular assessments. We also provide grievance channels to identify potential risks. For our employees, HTC has an Employee Code of Conduct, which regulates all legal rights, interests and structures appropriate to follow. For our suppliers, we have a Supplier Code of Conduct, which will take responsibility for supply chain management and require suppliers to avoid any incidents that violate human rights to ensure sustainable and positive social development.
Our RBA Commitment:
As an Affiliate Member of the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), HTC fully supports the vision and goals of the RBA:
Vision:
A coalition of companies driving sustainable value for workers, the environment and business throughout the global supply chain.
Mission:
Members, suppliers and stakeholders collaborate to improve working and environmental conditions and business performance through leading standards and practices.
HTC commits to progressively align its own operations with the provisions of the RBA Code of Conduct and to support and encourage its own first-tier suppliers to do the same.
Wherever possible, HTC will seek to adopt the RBA approach and tools in practical ways in the spirit of the industry’s common goals.
ESG Management Procedures and Systems
HTC’s ESG topics management uses materiality analysis as an important guideline for formulating long-term sustainable goals and communicating with stakeholders. In materiality analysis, GRI guidelines and AA1000 AP 2018 responsibility principle standards are adopted, and the four principles of inclusiveness, materiality, responsiveness, and impact are used to respond to the needs of stakeholders and focus on the disclosure of major topics, and these are further used for the judgment of disclosure of relevant actions, performance and results.
Based on industry and operating activities, as well as indicators such as interaction with the company, dependence, responsibility, attention, and influence, HTC evaluates stakeholders from multiple perspectives and identifies eight key stakeholders in 2022, including (1) employees, (2) suppliers/contractors, (3) consumers/customers, (4) shareholders and investors, (5) academic institutions, (6) local communities, (7) media & NGOs, and (8) rating agencies.
In addition to stakeholders, we also consider product services and operating activities, business relationships with the value chain, interested entities related to HTC (including subsidiaries and affiliated companies), sustainability context and human rights topics and etc. Based on GRI, SASB indicators, domestic and foreign corporate trends, peer ESG reports and other indicators, screen the issues of concern, focus on sustainable topics that are highly relevant to the company covering economic, environmental, and social aspects, and distribute questionnaires to each stakeholder. All the items in the questionnaire use the two major indicators of impact and possibility, and provide them to stakeholders in a five-point manner to identify possible or existing impacts.
After the candidate major topics of positive and negative impacts were generated, a major topics discussion meeting was held internally, and the Chief Sustainability Officer also attended the discussion. The meeting discussed according to the company’s development strategy, industry status, value chain practice and expert advice to confirm the degree of impact and positive/ negative/ potential impact of topics on the economy, environment, society and human rights, identified and ranked major topics of the year. The ESG Office reports the results to the Audit Committee for presentation to the Board of Directors, and serves as the main line of information disclosure in this annual ESG Report.
In addition, to ensure that the policies and decisions of the ESG Committee can be put into practice, we have divided ESG activities into four areas, “green products, environmental protection, occupational safety & health, and social responsibility,” and have set up a dedicated management system for each. These have been verified as aligned with the applicable international regulations and standards, and help integrate company policy for sustainability and social responsibility into our daily operations.
ESG related management system and initiative