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More than 60 stakeholders from the built environment and the energy sectors as well as the relevant Government departments participated in an engagement session entitled "Post-COP21 Green Building Imagining" today (April 23) at Government House.
The Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, said, "The Environment Bureau published the Energy Saving Plan for the Built Environment 2015~2025+ last year, which set the target of reducing Hong Kong's energy intensity by 40 per cent by 2025. It is one of the major initiatives that can help Hong Kong tackle the challenge of climate change."
In Hong Kong, more than half of the energy use is in the form of electricity consumption, with buildings accounting for about 90 per cent of the city's electricity use. Promoting green buildings and enhancing building energy saving has been one of the priority tasks in the Government's attempt to achieve energy saving.
As pledged in the Energy Saving Plan, the Government will create a dialogue platform to discuss with built environment stakeholders and power companies energy saving in the private sector.
Mr Wong said, "Today's meeting was a useful forum for us to have exchanges with the stakeholders on how we can work together in the face of the climate change challenge.
"We discussed with the stakeholders the green building and energy saving activities that are already taking place in Hong Kong, and shared some broad ideas on further activities that can help Hong Kong achieve deeper energy saving. I am gratified by the participants' positive response to our appeal for concerted efforts to develop a credible low-carbon pathway for the future.
"I hope this meeting will create the stimulus for future gatherings at various levels and with different stakeholders, so that more innovative and effective energy-saving ideas could be worked out together. A dialogue with stakeholders in other sectors will be held in the next few months."
Ends/Saturday, April 23, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:11
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