How to use this guide
This page explains a proportionate management approach for Hong Kong organisations. It is general information, not a substitute for legal, engineering, labour or other specialist advice where those disciplines are required.
Why this topic is growing in Hong Kong
Hong Kong updated its Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan at the end of 2025. BSAP 2035 sets out four strategic areas—nature conservation, deepening mainstreaming, capacity building and collaborative partnering—supported by 30 priority actions and 81 projects. The plan explicitly notes that enterprises can disclose biodiversity-related risks and adopt sustainable operating practices.
For companies, nature is not only a conservation or philanthropy topic. It can affect land and project approvals, water availability, flood protection, raw materials, tourism, food systems, supply continuity, reputation and financing.
Define dependencies and impacts before selecting a framework
Start with the business model. A dependency is something the business receives from nature, such as water, pollination, soil stability or coastal protection. An impact is a change the business causes or contributes to, such as habitat conversion, pollution, resource extraction or disturbance.
| Lens | Questions |
|---|---|
| Direct operations | Which sites, projects or discharges are close to sensitive habitats or species? |
| Supply chain | Which commodities, locations or suppliers carry deforestation, water, soil or ecosystem risk? |
| Products and customers | Could product use, disposal or financing enable significant nature impacts? |
| Dependencies | Which ecosystem services are essential to revenue, assets or continuity? |
| Financial channels | Could nature issues affect permits, costs, insurance, asset values or market access? |
Screen locations and activities
Map significant owned, leased, project and supplier locations. Use available spatial information to identify proximity to protected areas, wetlands, coastal zones, country parks, water bodies and other sensitive features. A screening result is not a full ecological assessment; it helps identify where specialist work or site-level action may be required.
Do not infer absence of risk from missing data
Global datasets can be coarse and supplier addresses may be incomplete. Record data limitations and use local ecological expertise where decisions could affect sensitive habitats or regulated activities.
Assess value-chain and commodity exposure
Prioritise commodities and services associated with land conversion, water stress, pollution, overexploitation or habitat disturbance. Connect this work to sustainable procurement, supplier due diligence and Scope 3 rather than creating a separate questionnaire with no purchasing consequence.
Prioritise management actions
- Avoid: prevent new impacts through location, design and sourcing decisions.
- Minimise: reduce disturbance, emissions, runoff, extraction or waste.
- Restore: rehabilitate degraded areas or improve habitat condition.
- Transform: support value-chain and sector changes where individual-site action is insufficient.
Actions should be linked to an owner, location, baseline, budget, evidence and review process. Offsetting or compensation should not be presented as equivalent to avoiding damage.
Choose metrics carefully
Nature cannot usually be reduced to one corporate number. Use a small set of location- and decision-relevant indicators, such as area affected or restored, water withdrawal by context, priority commodities assessed, supplier coverage, pollution incidents, habitat condition or implementation milestones. Explain methodology and uncertainty.
Useful deliverables
- Nature-dependency and impact screening.
- Location and commodity prioritisation map.
- Nature-related risk and opportunity register.
- Policy and due-diligence gap assessment.
- Site, sourcing and product action plan.
- Metric definitions and evidence approach.
- Board briefing and disclosure roadmap.
Questions to ask an adviser
- What data and spatial tools will be used, and what are their limitations?
- When will ecological or environmental specialists be required?
- How will the work connect to procurement, projects and capital allocation?
- How will impacts and dependencies be distinguished?
- Will suggested metrics be meaningful at the relevant location?