To: Editor of South China Morning Post

I refer to the article by Edwin Lau (Hong Kong’s climate change goals need regulations with teeth to succeed) on 14 October 2021.

Apart from laying down an overall framework to guide the decarbonisation journey in the next three decades, the Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050 (the Plan) has put forward concrete initiatives and action plans to reduce Hong Kong’s carbon emissions by half before 2035. Mr Lau might have omitted that in addition to phasing out coal, the Plan has indeed included detailed measures and steps to increase the share of renewable energy from less than 1% at present to 7.5% to 10%, and the share of zero carbon energy to about 60% to 70% before 2035.

To achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, it is necessary to have an in-depth appraisal of the carbon sources in Hong Kong. Electricity generation was the largest source of carbon emissions (66%), followed by transport (18%) and waste (7%). Currently, the local fuel mix for electricity generation mainly relies on fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. We can remove most of the carbon emissions if we increase the use of zero-carbon energy for electricity generation and gradually phase out fossil fuel vehicles by electrifying the transport sector.

For carbon emissions from waste, they are mainly greenhouse gases generated by the decomposition of municipal waste in landfills. As such, we have to phase out landfilling for municipal waste disposal in order to reduce carbon emissions and avoid utilising our precious land for developing new landfills. As for the remaining carbon emission sources, such as non-road vehicles and refrigerants, actions will be taken to identify suitable zero-carbon energy or alternative technologies.

In addition to zero-carbon energy sources and technologies, reducing the energy demand can lower the total cost of switching to zero-carbon energy and lessen the financial burden on the public. At present, buildings account for about 90% of the electricity consumption in Hong Kong. As such, improving energy efficiency of buildings to reduce the energy demand will be our top priority in future energy saving efforts. Based on the above analysis, the Plan lays down a four-pronged strategy for Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, namely “net-zero electricity generation”, “energy saving and green buildings”, “green transport” and “waste reduction”. All details on the measures and steps are in the Plan.

The Government is fully committed. In the next 15 to 20 years, the Government will devote about $240 billion to take forward various measures on climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Office of Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality will be set up for implementation and the Chief Executive chairs the Steering Committee on Climate Change and Carbon Neutrality to oversee the work and progress.

To achieve carbon neutrality successfully, it is necessary to mobilise the whole community to work together. We will establish a dedicated advisory committee on climate change to encourage different sectors in the community, including our young generation, to actively participate in climate actions. We will also work with different sectors to promote low-carbon lifestyle in Hong Kong.

Lastly, I would like to point out the striving for carbon neutrality will bring about new opportunities, such as developing Hong Kong into a green finance hub, generating green industries and jobs as well as inducing technology and innovation development. It will be a challenging and yet necessary and worthwhile journey for everyone in Hong Kong.

Daniel Tang,
Principal Environmental Protection Officer (Cross-Boundary & International),
Environmental Protection Department