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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) and the Guangdong Provincial Government today (December 22) held the fifth meeting of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group (JWG) on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection in Hong Kong.

Members of the JWG had a thorough discussion on the progress of the implementation of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Regional Air Quality Management Plan in 2004 and devised a detailed action plan for 2005.

A new Special Panel, comprising members of the Economic and Trade Commission of the Guangdong Province; the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau of the HKSARG and relevant departments of the two governments, will be set up under the JWG. The new panel will be responsible for promoting public education and technology of the energy saving measures and clean production among the commercial and industrial sector in the PRD region.

Speaking at the press briefing after the JWG meeting, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, said that the cooperation of Guangdong and Hong Kong governments to improve the PRD's regional air quality had achieved satisfactory progress. "Both Guangdong and Hong Kong share the efforts of the important task of improving the regional air quality, striving to protect public health and achieving the goal of sustainable development. We both agree that a quality environment will greatly improve the image of Hong Kong and Guangdong Province," Dr Liao said.

Also speaking at the press briefing, the Director of the Environmental Protection Bureau of Guangdong Province, Mr Li Qing, said the two governments shared the aspiration to improve the PRD's regional air quality.

He said the Guangdong Provincial Government would continue to implement the Pearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Management Plan in an attempt to achieve the emission targets with Hong Kong by 2010, which was announced by the two governments in April 2002.

Turning to the cooperation of both sides in 2005, the environmental protection departments of the two governments will start operating a regional monitoring network covering the entire PRD region with 16 monitoring stations in the first quarter of 2005. Subject to the operational situation of the monitoring network, a joint data centre will announce the monitoring results to the public as soon as possible.

The departments from both sides will also formulate a "2003 PRD Regional Emissions Inventory" based on the "Handbook on Preparation of Air Emissions Inventory in the Pearl River Delta Region" so as to evaluate the changes in the air pollutant emissions of Hong Kong and Guangdong since 1997.

The JWG has also laid down a schedule for developing the Emission Trading Pilot Scheme for Fuel-burning Power Plants in the PRD Region. This serves to provide a study report to the two governments by mid-2006 and present the details of the Pilot Scheme to the power plants in Hong Kong and Guangdong so that the prospective participants can identify their trading partners and draw up the emission trading agreements.

The priorities of the environmental protection departments of the two sides in the coming year also cover strengthening the technical exchange and training to officers, conducting joint site inspections and reviewing the work on emission reduction. The work in these areas will help in the reporting to the JWG the progress of the various measures to improve PRD regional air quality by the end of next year.

Ends/Wednesday, December 22, 2005

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