Independent Assurance Statement

TÜV Rheinland

Introduction:

TÜV Rheinland Hong Kong Limited, member of TÜV Rheinland Group, Germany (TÜV, We) has been commissioned by the Drainage Services Department (DSD) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to conduct independent assurance of DSD’s Sustainability Report 2014-15 (the Report). All contractual contents for this assurance engagement rest within the responsibility of DSD. Our task was to give a fair and adequate judgment on DSD's Sustainability Report 2014-15.

The intended readers of this assurance statement are stakeholders having relevance to DSD’s overall sustainability performance and impacts of its operations during 2014-15 (1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015). We have maintained complete impartiality and independence during the assurance engagement and were not involved in the preparation of report contents.

Scope of Assurance:

Our Assurance engagement covers the following:

DSD’s sustainability performance as described in the Report in accordance with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines, performance indicators and according disclosure on management approach (DMAs) from Economic, Environment & Social category, as well as the reporting boundaries; and
Evaluation of disclosed information in the Report as per the Assurance Methodology.

Limitation:

The assurance engagement was carried out at DSD Headquarters at Wanchai, Hong Kong. The consultations with external stakeholders were not carried out. We did not observe any significant situations to limit our assurance activity. The verification is carried out based on the data and information provided by DSD, assuming they are complete and true.

Assurance Methodology:

The Independent Assurance was carried out based on the current best practices and the Report was reviewed against the principles of Inclusivity, Materiality & Responsiveness, and ‘In accordance’ - Core as per GRI G4 reporting guidelines.

TÜV has examined the report contents and assess the process undertaken by DSD from source to aggregate in disclosure of information/data related to sustainability performance. Our judgment is based on the objective review of reported information as per the assurance principles mentioned above.

Analytical methods and the performance of interviews as well as verification of data, were done by random sampling to verify and validate the correctness of reported data and contents in light of contractual assurance agreement. Our work included interviewing over 10 DSD representatives including senior management and relevant employees. The approach deemed to be appropriate for the purpose of assurance of the Report since all data therein could be verified through original proofs, and verified database entries.

The Assurance was performed by our multidisciplinary team of experienced professionals in the field of Corporate Sustainability, Environment, Social and Stakeholder Engagement. Our work offers a sufficient and substantiated basis to enable us to come to a conclusion mentioned below and based on the content of our contract. TÜV Rheinland shall not bear any liability or responsibility to a third party for perception and decision about DSD based on this Assurance Statement.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, we can mention that no instances or information came to our attention that would be to the contrary of the statement made below:

Drainage Service Department Sustainability Report 2014-15 meets the requirement of ‘In accordance’ - Core as per GRI G4 reporting guidelines.
The Report includes statements and claims that reflects DSD’s achievements and challenges supported by documentary evidences and internal records. The information provided in the Report are accurate and consistent.
The performance data we found in the Report are collected, stored and analyzed in a systematic and professional manner and were reasonable.