As a citizen of the earth, Pou Chen believes that the focus of environmental sustainability has become an important topic over the world. By adhering to the principle of conserving natural resources and sustainable development, Pou Chen is committed to the effective use of resources and the reduction of the impact on the environment from economic development. As such, the Company has incorporated related environmental protection, energy saving and carbon reduction, ecological concern, intelligent green buildings into its operational planning thoughts. Environmental and energy saving management projects were launched in different phases for improving overall environmental performance indicators and undertaking the Company’s goal of sustainable development.
By holding the principle of maintaining the balance between environmental protection and production, the Company has already adopted the following measures in phases for environmental protection:
- Import effective environmental management system, implement the prevention and impact management against environmental pollution, in order to promote environmental sustainability.
- Follow and comply with environmental laws and regulations and other requirements, formulate and implement relevant standard operating procedures.
- Optimize production procedures, promote clean production, reduce the emission of pollutants, implement the management of pollution control, and inspect regularly.
- Reduce usage of hazardous materials, promote reduction of industrial waste, resources recycling, energy saving and carbon reduction measures, in order to continuously enhance environmental protection.
- Strengthen education and training, enhance awareness of environmental protection.
Environmental Management System
In terms of the environmental management system, the Company has established an internal management system mainly in accordance with the ISO 14001 environmental management system and internal management regulations. The basic objective of the system is to meet the local environmental protection requirements, whereas the medium-long-term objective is to strive towards cleaner production and reduction of environmental pollutant emissions. In 2022, 58% of the Company's production bases have been verified through the ISO 14001:2015 management system, and 55% of the factories used Higg FEM for environmental assessment.
GHG Emission Reduction Target
Energy conservation and carbon reduction have consistently been the focus of the Company's ongoing efforts. To actively engage in global carbon reduction and the development of green energy, Pou Chen has established comprehensive energy management targets. Through a continuous commitment to promoting low-carbon production, expanding the use of renewable energy, and implementing energy-saving measures, the Company aims to achieve zero growth in carbon emissions over a five-year period by 2025, compared to the base year of 2019. Furthermore, the Company has set a more ambitious target for 2030, pledging a 46.2% reduction in GHG emissions compared to 2019 levels. This target has been verified by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and aligns with the standards established by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi).
Climate Change Risk
In response to the UN's Climate Action to achieve its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Pou Chen actively takes measures to ensure a sustainable production model, in order to shed operational risks and impacts caused by climate anomalies.
The number of footwear products produced by Pou Chen’s production base in Southeast Asia accounts for about 80% of the total output. In recent years, the likelihood of Southeast Asia being affected by natural disasters and climate variability has increased, posing risks to the Company's sustainable production operations.
In addition to continuing to pay attention to the policy and legal requirements of the international community and the trends of response to climate change, the Company will, in terms of energy management, implement actions for energy conservation and carbon reduction, and improve the energy efficiency of factories, in the hope of effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by energy consumption, and thereby mitigating climate change risks.
PCG Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change