For millions of young employees today, work must be more than just a way to earn a regular income and build a successful career. It must also be a way to give them a sense of purpose and make a contribution towards a better future.

Climate change is the biggest concern for young people after the cost of living, according to a survey of more than 20,000 millennials and Generation Z professionals in 46 countries by Deloitte. Almost half said they were pushing for greater climate action in their companies.

The good news is that businesses globally are responding positively, hiring young people who are keen to make a difference and making public commitments to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

CLP, for example, has prioritised four of the 17 goals and is committed to building an agile, innovative, diverse, digital-native, and inclusive workforce in its journey towards carbon neutrality.

As a sign of its shift in focus, the company has evolved its approach in talent development through its annual Graduate Trainee Programme. Director of Human Resources (Group Organisation Development & Talent) Betty Chan says one key shift is to nurture a culture of innovation for employees to take initiative to make a bigger impact in what they do.

The other key shift is to broaden the exposure of young employees from the start, helping the company create a new generation of agile and versatile leaders to expedite digitalisation and decarbonisation. “Our young employees will rotate through various business units in different locations while taking up numerous roles to acquire knowledge and experiences including learning the latest clean energy technologies and participating in low-carbon generation projects."

Betty adds: "Our enhanced development approach aims to instil a love of learning and passion in making a difference among our young employees, cultivating a sense of commitment to sustainability and innovation."

Here, three young CLP employees describe how they have found their way into careers that not only make them a living but make a real difference to the world around them.

Acting green

Jane Wong got a taste for sustainability when she joined CLP’s internship programme in 2015. “Helping out at different energy conservation events, I was impressed by CLP’s commitment to sustainability. It became something I wanted to pursue for my career,” she explains.

She joined CLP as a graduate trainee in 2017 and is now an account manager in the Customer Success & Experience department where she works with business customers to find out how CLP’s energy management solutions can help them achieve long-term sustainability goals.  

“As an established public utility company, CLP spares no effort when it comes to promoting energy saving and decarbonisation,” says Jane. “I am fortunate to have participated in major projects, such as the Eco-Building Fund and Energy Audit programmes.”

Jane is a core team member of a pilot scheme studying the effectiveness of a variable time-of-use pricing scheme for electric vehicles (EVs), which incentivises EV owners to charge their vehicles during non-peak hours.

The scheme also helps building owners better manage the electricity loading, reducing the need for investment in additional power capacity to meet the rise in electricity demand driven by EVs.

“EVs reduce roadside pollution and help increase the use of clean energy, but they also bring about a significant surge in electricity demand. What I do is to help analyse electricity usage by customers to pave the way for the popularisation of EVs,” Jane says. 

Looking ahead, Jane is keen to take part in more energy-saving and decarbonisation initiatives to support the government’s goal of achieving carbon neutrality for Hong Kong by 2050.

“I hope that, through my work, I can encourage people to take the extra but necessary steps for a sustainable future,” she says. 

Thinking green

Karl Huen has been involved in volunteer work and fundraising for underprivileged people since he was at university, and is passionate about the importance of youth development programmes.

“The younger generation has an important role to play in Hong Kong’s sustainable development,” says Karl, who joined CLP in 2019 as Community Relations Partner and works to raise young people’s awareness about electricity and energy conservation.

“CLP puts great emphasis on cultivating relationships with young people and the community. It provides a lot of room for colleagues to push forward in these areas,” he reflects.

Karl says the most challenging project he has worked on so far was the Distribution Box Beautification project, which was launched last year and involved beautifying distribution boxes in four pilot districts to promote a greener and more sustainable community.

Guided tours were then arranged for young people to visit the redesigned distribution boxes and Karl was tasked with fun and creative ways to engage with digital-native tour participants.

Buying green

Modern home life revolves around air conditioners, fridges, and televisions. But despite the introduction of energy-saving labels, customers sometimes still opt for models with low energy ratings if they are cheaper.

As a Senior Product Sourcing & Quality Assurance Specialist at CLPe Commerce, Ariel Au sources electrical appliances for customers that are both energy efficient and economical.

“We can only achieve energy saving if customers buy and use energy-efficient appliances,” she says. “Our goal is to provide a wide array of choices that address different consumer needs.

“My work helps empower customers to choose the right product, driving sustainable consumer behaviour in the process and contributing to sustainable development.”

As well as sourcing electrical appliances, Ariel’s team also promotes the concept of all-electric homes to customers and has launched a pilot scheme to award cash rebates to customers who buy electric stoves or water heaters to replace traditional gas appliances.

Ariel believes more must be done to promote sustainability. “Almost everyone has heard of the concept of sustainability, but knowing about it without doing anything will get us nowhere,” she argues.

“Through my product sourcing work, I hope to continue to provide consumers with affordable and eco-friendly choices so that they can make greener purchase decisions and play an active role in protecting the environment.”