Sustainability
Chairman’s Message
I’m delighted to share our 2023 Sustainability Report, highlighting our strategy, commitments and efforts towards creating an ever more sustainable and successful business. This year, we experienced substantial growth across all sectors and ventured into new markets, prompting us to revisit and refine our sustainability strategy. By acknowledging the intricate connections among our material issues, we've embraced a holistic approach to sustainability. This enables us to devise initiatives that tackle these issues comprehensively.
It is becoming widely accepted that there is no net zero without nature, and the climate crisis is as much about biodiversity and the fragile ecosystem services that are being threatened. At Minor, conservation is deeply ingrained in our ethos. This year, we've expanded our conservation efforts, increasing the number of IUCN Red List species protected through our initiatives to 94, up from 82 in 2022.
In our fight against climate change, we are steadfast in our commitment to achieving Net Zero emissions by 2050. As we develop science-based targets for SBTi submission, we have interim targets to reduce Minor Hotels’ energy and carbon intensity per room sold by 15% by 2025 over our 2019 pre-pandemic baseline. Despite challenges posed by our expansion, particularly with resort-based properties, we've made strides in reducing energy and carbon intensities compared to 2022, although there's an overall increase when compared to our 2019 baseline. Our achievements in reducing water intensity, minimizing single-use plastics, and cutting organic waste to landfill are on track. In 2024, we plan to intensify our efforts to align our emission reduction with science-based targets.
People remain at the heart of our sustainability strategy. As we grow, the imperative to attract, develop, and retain talent becomes increasingly critical. In 2023, over half of the graduates from the Minor Corporate University (MCU) program rejoined our workforce, underlining the program's importance as a talent incubator and its role in empowering local communities. We aim to increase this retention rate to 60% by 2025.
We fell short of 50% internal management promotion in 2023 due to rapid expansion straining the management talent pipeline. As we expand our horizons and establish foothold into new markets, we will tap into local talent pools to build a more diverse and dynamic workforce. Internally, we have established Center of Excellence to foster learning and development across the company, aspiring to be an environment where employees can achieve their fullest potential.
"Together with Love," our global corporate volunteering slogan, reflects serving those in need. Through our corporate social responsibility initiatives, since 2022 we've cumulatively impacted over 712,000 individuals globally, with a goal to reach three million by 2030. Our efforts are anchored in operational excellence, ensuring the safety and well-being of our employees, guests, and customers, while also enhancing the economic prospects of local communities and offering healthier products and services.
Our commitment to robust corporate governance and a responsible business culture is fundamental to our success. We remain vigilant of any potential adverse human rights impacts within and from our operations by providing our employees with human rights training. We consider our suppliers to be the crucial stakeholders who help us guard against any potential adverse environmental and social impacts. We are engaging with selected suppliers who can help us drive down Scope 3 emissions. And we are working toward a framework to assess and guard against potential adverse impacts on human rights along our supply chain. Our supplier assessment program sets sustainability expectations for suppliers who want to do business with us. We also use the program to build supplier capabilities, helping small and medium size suppliers to improve their sustainability performance and processes.
We have been recognized for our efforts on sustainability. Our commitment to corporate governance is reflected in the “Excellent” CG Scoring by the Thai Institute of Directors Association for the 11th consecutive year in 2023. We are included in S&P Global's Sustainability Yearbook 2024 in the Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines industry with Top 10% ESG Scores, the FTSE4Good Index Series, and MSCI ESG Rating of AA.
I am proud of the progress we have made and acknowledge there are still areas where we can enhance our efforts. I welcome an open dialogue on how we can collaborate with our stakeholders to tackle the climate crisis and promote sustainable growth. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each team member of Minor International for their dedication and passion towards this important work, and the support, trust and confidence of our stakeholders. I look forward with excitement to what lies ahead in 2024 and stand ready to thrive responsibly, breaking through boundaries as we continue our remarkable journey.