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Following is the speech delivered by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, at the Professional Green Building Council's (PGBC) 10th anniversary cocktail reception at Zero Carbon Building this evening (December 28):
Sam (Chairman of PGBC, Sr Sam Cheng), previous Chairmen of PGBC, a lot of friends and audience,
It really gives me great pleasure to join you this evening at the 10th anniversary reception of the Professional Green Building Council, especially in this first Zero Carbon Building in Hong Kong.
I come here for several purposes. First is as you have heard me said on a few occasions, my knowledge about green building and my subsequent work as the Secretary for Development to help push the green building movement in Hong Kong, much was due to the initiative of PGBC. I would rather like to regard PGBC as my mentor in this particular respect because when I first took up the position of the Secretary for Development, I knew very little about green building. I thought that was under the Secretary for the Environment, not the Secretary for Development. But somehow KS (the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-shing) and Reuben (Co-opted member of PGBC, Mr Reuben Chu) and other very active PGBC members educated me along the way and brought me to Melbourne to the Sustainable Building Conference. That has been a very important eye-opening exercise for me. So the first thing is to come to really thank my mentor for what you have done for Hong Kong.
Secondly, I agree entirely with Kenneth (former Chairman of PGBC, Mr Kenneth Chan) that if we have to find a word to describe the last 10 years of PGBC's work, I think we should all be very proud. Of course I hope that part of this pride of PGBC in helping to push the green building movement in Hong Kong could also be attributed to some positive Government's response, despite what KK (Vice-chairman of PGBC, Mr K K Choy) said we had not that enough here and there and so on.
And third is I really come here to impress upon you that we have a very good opportunity in the coming 10 years. Not only to give this green building movement an even greater push, but really to lead the green building movement, at least in this part of the world, in Asian region. Given the enthusiasm of so many professionals in Hong Kong, given the leadership of the Secretary for the Environment in this term of the Government and also with the right institutions we now have – the Professional Green Building Council and the Zero Carbon Building, and not far away from here another provisional or potential platinum-rated building occupied by the Energizing Kowloon East Office, I think in the last 10 years with PGBC and other stakeholders, we have built up the needed foundation. In the coming 10 years, we need even greater collaboration and stronger leadership, and perhaps stronger political will and determination to really make the real difference to Hong Kong's green building movement which will contribute significantly to the Government's carbon emission reduction target. I am sure you know that we have set for ourselves a very ambitious target. And if we need to choose one area to achieve the good result to contribute to that emission target, it has to be buildings - because some 90 per cent of electricity generated in Hong Kong is consumed in Hong Kong's buildings.
So I come here to encourage all of you to continue your good work, to continue to support the HKSAR Government and to give whatever you could in terms of assistance and advice to KS. He has a few hot potatoes in his plate. So he needs your full support in this term of the Government in order to deliver the vision that he and I and many of you have for Hong Kong's environment and for our future generations.
Meanwhile, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very happy new year, good health and happiness in 2013. Thank you very much.
Ends/Friday, December 28, 2012
Issued at HKT 21:54
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