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    Following is a question by the Hon Lee Wing-tat and a written reply by the Acting Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Michael Suen, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 22):

Question:

    Regarding the work of the Council for Sustainable Development ("CSD"), will the Government inform this Council whether:

(a) CSD has deliberated on significant and pressing issues with far-reaching implications on the sustainable development of Hong Kong, such as the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District, the Concept Plan for Lantau and the preservation of the Central Police Station Compound;
if so, of the details of the deliberations; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) it will consider allowing public participation in determining subjects for deliberation by CSD and enhancing the transparency of CSD's work;

(c) it will consider appointing to CSD representatives of green groups so that its membership and deliberations will be more balanced; and

(d) it will expand the terms of reference of CSD so that it may offer views on policies proposed by the Government which have far-reaching implications on the sustainable development of Hong Kong?

Reply:

Madam President,

    In the 1999 Policy Address, the Government announced that the main task of the proposed Council for Sustainable Development ("Council") was to advise the Government on matters relating to sustainable development and to promote public understanding of the issue. The Council was subsequently established in 2003 with the following terms of reference:

(i) to advise the Government on the priority areas it should address in promoting sustainable development;

(ii) to advise on the preparation of a sustainable development strategy for Hong Kong that will integrate economic, social and environmental perspectives;

(iii) to facilitate community participation in the promotion of sustainable development in Hong Kong through various means, including the award of grants from the Sustainable Development Fund; and

(iv) to promote public awareness and understanding of the principles of sustainable development.

    Since its establishment, the Council has been pursuing these objectives, promoting public participation in building Hong Kong's sustainable development strategy and advising the Government on the strategy. At the same time, the Council has been endeavouring to raise public awareness of sustainable development and enhance the community?s understanding and acceptance of the concept through various channels and means such as building up partnership with professional and district organisations, holding stakeholder forums and awarding grants from the Sustainable Development Fund to sponsor community educational activities.

    Meanwhile, the Government has put in place an assessment mechanism to ensure that every public policy and programme complies with the principles of sustainable development and fully integrates social, environmental and economic considerations. In drawing up major policies and works proposals, the Government requires that the responsible bureaux and departments should conduct sustainability assessments and that the bureaux should present the assessment findings in their submissions to the Policy Committee and the Executive Council. When consulting the public or announcing their proposals, bureaux and departments are also required to publicise the findings of the sustainability assessments for public information and invite opinions from the community.

    My replies to the 4 parts of the question are as follows:

(a) In considering long-term city planning projects with significant implications on sustainable development, the relevant bureaux and departments have consulted the Council. These projects include : the Hong Kong 2030 Study, which is being implemented in phases by the Planning Department; and the research study on the Concept Plan for Lantau, which is being taken forward by the Lantau Development Task Force.

(b) & (c) When considering the composition of the Council, the Chief Executive decided that there should be members from three sectors, namely social development, environmental protection, and business and economics. Members from the environmental protection sector, for example, include
representatives of the Legislative Council, academic institutions and stakeholder organisations. Furthermore, the sub-committees under the Council also comprise members of environmental groups and other community organisations who are concerned about the issue.

    The Council last year adopted a community engagement process to involve all sectors in drawing up Hong Kong's first sustainable development strategy. Learning from experience, the Council has decided that in the second round of strategy development, the community engagement process should be improved, with members of the public directly discussing and taking forward the new agenda for strategy development. As always, the Council will stick to the principle of maintaining transparency throughout the process of strategy discussion and community engagement so that members of the public may take part in the discussion through various channels at every stage.

    To enhance public understanding of the Council's task, the agendas, discussion papers, digests of meetings and information on the various forums and activities of the Council and its sub-committees will continue to be uploaded onto the website of the Sustainable Development Unit for public viewing and at the same time publicised through other means.

(d) As mentioned earlier, included in the Council's terms of reference is the duty to advise the Government on Hong Kong's sustainable development strategy and related issues, which is an objective that the Council has been pursuing since its establishment.

Ends/Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:00

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