ESG and climate resilience metrics in electricity utilities: A data and disclosure review
Project Description
This project examines how climate resilience is represented in ESG disclosures by electricity utilities operating in Hong Kong and the wider GBA. The student will collect publicly available ESG reports, sustainability disclosures, and climate risk statements from major utilities and relevant infrastructure operators. Using a structured coding framework, the student will document how resilience is measured, which indicators are reported, and how climate application is linked to operational decision-making. The project will pay particular attention to gaps between technical performance metrics and governance-oriented indicators such as coordination, preparedness, and recovery capability. The output will include a comparative disclosure table and a short analytical memo discussing alignment (or misalignment) between ESG narratives and the realities of climate-related power disruptions described in the academic literature.
Supervisor
DELINA Laurence Laurencio
Quota
1
Course type
UROP1000
UROP1100
UROP2100
UROP3100
UROP3200
UROP4100
Applicant's Roles
1. Gather ESG and climate-risk disclosures from utilities operating in Hong Kong and the GBA.
2. Identify and code reported resilience-related metrics and qualitative statements.
3. Compare how utilities frame resilience and climate risk.
4. Write a short memo assessing the alignment between ESG disclosures and operational resilience challenges.
Applicant's Learning Objectives
1. Understand how ESG reporting interfaces with infrastructure and climate risks.
2. Learn basic qualitative coding for corporate and policy documents.
3. Develop practical insights into the limitations of ESG metrics for resilience assessment.
Complexity of the project
Challenging