****************************************************

Following is the speech by the acting Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Michael Suen, at the Architectural Services Department ISO 14001 Certificate Award Ceremony today (Wednesday):

Mr Ng, colleagues, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be here today to officiate at this Environmental Certification Ceremony. It is most appropriate that we have chosen this day to celebrate an environmental milestone for the Government, as 22 April is the Earth Day. First introduced in the United States and now being commemorated by more than 200 million people in over 140 countries, this special day reminds us of the importance of preserving our most valuable treasures for our common future.

The Architectural Services Department is the first department of the Hong Kong SAR Government to be certified for an environmental management system that complies with ISO 14001. It is particularly pleasing that much of the initiative for this came from the department itself, and I take great pleasure in congratulating the Director, Mr Pau, and his staff on their achievement and the recognition they have received. I would also like to thank the Secretary for Works and the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands for their encouragement and support to the Architectural Services Department.

In recent years the Government has introduced various measures to encourage individual departments and Bureaux to take on greater responsibility for the environmental aspects of their work. In 1993, we introduced the Green Managers Scheme, which has been successful in promoting awareness of the need for better green housekeeping measures. Since then, we have taken a further step by introducing environmental auditing and environmental management systems. Through these measures, environmentally unfriendly office practices have been identified and rectified. These approaches allow us to raise our institutional environmental awareness to a higher level. Again, I am pleased to see that the Architectural Services Department has been in the forefront of progress.

While we have made encouraging progress so far, we believe that the time is right to build on this progress and step up our efforts. In the past 16 months or so we have organised two green manager plena for those officers designated with the responsibility for implementing various green measures in individual departments, such as recycling paper and reducing electricity consumption. These plena not only help to provide the channel to pass on updated environmental information, but also help us to collect feedback from green managers. Perhaps the single most important message we have received from this useful interactive approach is the need to institutionalise environmental targets to a much greater extent.

For sure, departments vary substantially in terms of their functions and practices. We cannot impose one set of targets indiscriminately upon all of them. However, within these constraints we do need to ensure that every policy secretary, head of department or any officer responsible for policy-making or execution, understands and takes account of the environmental implications at the earliest stages of policy formulation and throughout implementation. Developing such a system is one of the major tasks ahead for the Government.

I trust that the Architectural Services Department's initiative will influence and encourage others, both within and outside government. I might add that there is plenty of evidence that forward thinking companies in the private sector are not waiting for any encouragement - the commercial advantages are obvious as consumers, be them corporate or individual, local or overseas, are becoming increasingly demanding of environmental quality. Those who do not incorporate environmentally friendly production processes and management systems run a serious risk of being excluded from the markets.

For all of us, whether in Government or business, attaining high standards of environmental performance is a crucial part of providing good service and ensuring good value for money. I am delighted to see the Architectural Services Department taking up this challenge, and look forward to seeing the fruits of your endeavours in the years to come. Achieving more energy efficient buildings that offer a quality environment to their inhabitants is one of the most important initiatives that we can take to improve the living condition of our crowded city. It is heartening to see the Government's own architects are setting an example and taking the lead.

And before I close, I think it is appropriate that we are celebrating today as Earth Day. But I would like to take the opportunity to remind you of another day, May 24, it is Election Day. And I think I would be incomplete and I would be failing in my duties if I do not take this opportunity with so many of you here, not to plead to you, really, but through you and with your help, and I hope through you, you can spread the message and encourage more people to come out to vote on May 24. That of course, is our Election Day. On that day, we will be electing the first Legislative council under the Hong Kong Special administrative Government. And I am sure, you like myself, want that to be a success. And so on this point I rest my speech.

Thank you.

End/Wednesday, April 22, 1998

NNNN