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Following is a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (November 10) :

Question:

The Central People's Government ("CPG") has decided to apply the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ("the Convention") and the Kyoto Protocol ("the Protocol") under the Convention to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ("HKSAR") with effect from May last year. As China is not a party listed in Annex I to the Convention, it is not obligated to abide by the emission reduction targets stipulated by the Protocol for developed economies. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government or CPG to draw up specific emission reduction targets;

(b) if the above task is the responsibility of the HKSAR Government, of the basis adopted by the Administration in determining the emission reduction targets for HKSAR, and the reasons for adopting such basis; given that HKSAR ranks 30th among 183 economies and is one of the 54 high-income economies according to the "2003 Gross Domestic Product" ranking list in the World Development Indicators database which was published by the World Bank in September this year, whether the HKSAR Government will, having regard to the level of our economic development, adopt the emission reduction targets for developed economies; and

(c) if the above task is the responsibility of CPG, whether the HKSAR Government knows the basis adopted by CPG in determining the emission reduction targets for HKSAR and the reasons for adopting such basis?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Under the "One Country, Two Systems" arrangement, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government is responsible for controlling the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the HKSAR and reporting to the Central People's Government (CPG) information required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ("the Convention") and its Kyoto Protocol ("the Protocol") after the CPG's promulgation of the extension of the Convention and the Protocol to the HKSAR.

(b)&(c) We will do our best to control GHG emissions from Hong Kong and join hands with the international community in addressing global climate change. In fact, we successfully brought our GHG emissions down to the 1990 level in 2000.

Instead of setting emission reduction targets applicable to all, the Protocol requires its signatories to fulfil different obligations according to their specific circumstances. For example, European Union (EU) countries are required to reduce their emission levels by 8 per cent on average while Australia may increase emissions by up to 8 per cent.

At present, the per capita GHG emission level of Hong Kong is only 6 tonnes, which is far below that of other developed economies, such as the United States (24.9 tonnes), Australia (26.2 tonnes), Canada (23.6 tonnes) and EU countries (7.8-17.7 tonnes). Even if these developed economies manage to achieve their respective Kyoto targets, their per capita emission levels will still be much higher than that of Hong Kong.

That said, the HKSAR Government is actively taking cost effective measures to control and further reduce local GHG emissions. Such measures include making better use of landfill gas, promoting energy efficiency and electricity saving.

Ends/Wednesday, November 10, 2004

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