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Press Release
Environment Hong Kong 2008 report published
Public involvement and support were prerequisites to the implementation of new environmental policies, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Edward Yau, said today (October 24) in his Foreword to the annual report, "Environment Hong Kong 2008".
The annual report is published by the Environment Bureau and Environmental Protection Department (EPD).
The report, with “Quality Living Environment” as the thematic message, reports the full range of programmes of the bureau and the department and the progress towards achieving these aims.
“As Hong Kong becomes increasingly conscious of the need to protect the environment, the community also understands that raising the quality of life must be done in a sustainable way,” Mr Yau said.
“We took a big step in 2007 towards that goal. An Environment Bureau was created to oversee not only environmental protection but also policies involving energy, sustainable development and nature conservation.”
Mr Yau said, “A re-organised Environment Bureau has enabled the Government to better consolidate and co-ordinate these related policy areas under one roof.”
He used the example of the new Scheme of Control Agreements to regulate the power sector to illustrate that the re-organisation had paid off.
“The new Scheme of Control Agreements to regulate the power sector was negotiated in 2007 and, for the first time, included incentives to reduce emissions and invest in renewable energies.”
The bureau and the department are making progress on long-term improvements in many areas. In addition to the approval by the Legislative Council of higher sewage charges in 2007 to bring them closer in line with the polluter pays principle, the Programme on Source Separation of Domestic Waste also continued to expand. By the end of 2007, there were 766 housing estates enrolled in the programme, covering 42% of the population. The Legislative Council also agreed to the injection of $1 billion into the Environment and Conservation Fund to enhance community participation in environment and conservation matters.
Maintaining that the implementation of new environmental policies required the community's backing, Mr Yau emphasised that public involvement and support were prerequisites.
“Last year we launched the ‘I Love Hong Kong! I Love Green!’ campaign to unify our community-based programmes under one slogan and one goal: encouraging people to go for green in their daily lives.
“Hong Kong people’s own efforts can make a big difference but the difference becomes even bigger if our efforts are supported by strategies on a regional and global scale,” Mr Yau said.
“Regionally, we are co-operating extensively with our counterparts in Mainland China on a wide range of issues. We are also working to meet our international obligations on climate change.”
Sharing these views, the Permanent Secretary for the Environment and Director of Environmental Protection, Ms Anissa Wong, agreed that public engagement mobilised people’s support for greener action. Ultimately it helped to achieve greater sustainability.
“We continued to strengthen the high degree of public involvement in the environmental impact assessment process by expanding the use of three-dimensional tools that let people clearly see and even hear the impact of new developments.”
Ms Wong said air pollution was the most talked about issue and there was intense concern in the community about air quality. It was being tackled from several angles, including the launch of an 18-month study to devise new air quality objectives and develop a long-term strategy for achieving them. Another area that was being addressed to identify greater sustainable solutions was waste management, she said.
“We are not simply aiming to fix the problems of the present day, but to achieve continuous, sustainable improvements that will provide a quality living environment for coming generations,” she said.
The report, which is available in electronic format, can be obtained from the EPD website at http://www.epd.gov.hk or as CD-ROM at the Government Bookstores or the Information Services Department (ISD) at $8 each. Orders of the CD-ROM can be placed via the internet at http://www.gov.hk/en/apps/isdbookstore.htm or by returning the order form downloaded from the ISD website at http://isd.gov.hk, at fax 2523 7195 or email puborder@isd.gov.hk. You may call 2537 1910 for order enquiries.
Ends/Friday, October 24, 2008
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