Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence
The environmental award system run by the Environmental Campaign Committee with the Environment and Ecology Bureau and Hong Kong's major chambers, funded by the Environment and Conservation Fund, judged sector by sector (industry and commerce, schools, public bodies). It carries two awards and two commendation schemes: the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence, the Hong Kong Green Innovation Awards, the Outstanding Green Elite Commendation Scheme and the Outstanding Partner Commendation Scheme. The lowest bar of all sits in the same system: the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification takes applications year-round, free of charge — the cheapest starting point for ESG credentials to put into a tender.
The tenders you bid for and the large customers you court have started asking about ESG and environmental credentials, and you hold no third-party certification — start with the free Green Organisation Certification and work up to the award.
You want a green badge for the website with no intention of changing operations — this is judged sector by sector against real records, and without them you won't get it.
- Entry / deadline
- Sector entry windows are announced annually (the 2025 school sector closed on 20 January 2026); the Green Organisation Certification takes applications year-round
- Entry fee
- The Green Organisation Certification is free to apply for
- Who can enter
- Entry is by sector: industry and commerce, public bodies and schools (the school sector is open to all registered schools recognised by the Education Bureau)
Get certified first, then go for the award
The most useful piece of this system isn't the award — it's the Hong Kong Green Organisation Certification: open all year, free to apply, covering the 'Hong Kong Green Organisation' label and five certificates. For an SME just starting to field ESG questions from customers, that's the cheapest first piece of paper; go for the Environmental Excellence award afterwards and the judges see a fuller record. Do it the other way round — straight at the award — and most companies get exposed on thin records at the on-site assessment.
Judged by sector — don't cross streams
Judging runs separately by sector: industry and commerce, public bodies and schools each have their own schedule and criteria. The 2025 school sector closed on 20 January 2026; industry sector dates are announced separately. Confirm your own sector's window for the edition before entering — don't borrow another sector's dates.
- 1
Apply for the Green Organisation Certification first
Year-round and free — the only door in this system that doesn't make you wait for a window.
Pitfall: Waiting for the annual award to open and losing half a year.
- 2
Confirm your sector and this edition's window
Industry and commerce, public bodies and schools all schedule separately.
Pitfall: Taking the school sector's deadline as your own.
- 3
Turn your environmental practice into an auditable record
Energy and water use, waste, procurement and training records are what assessors can actually look at.
Pitfall: Slogans and posters with no continuous data behind them.
- 01Getting ESG questions from customers → apply for the Green Organisation Certification today; it's open all year and free.
- 02Already have a record → check your sector's window for this edition and go for the Environmental Excellence award.
- 03In green technology → the Green Innovation Awards fit better than the main award; also look at the ESG and social innovation category of the HKICT Start-up Award.
The current industry-sector window, entry fees and required documents aren't listed on the pages verified here — check the ECC / HKAEE official pages. The 2025 school-sector deadline (20 January 2026) has passed and is given only as a scheduling reference.