SDC submits report on long-term decarbonisation strategy to Government (with photo)
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After an extensive public engagement process, the Council for Sustainable Development (SDC) today (November 13) submitted to the Government its report on Hong Kong's long-term decarbonisation strategy.
The public engagement, adopting a bottom-up and stakeholder-oriented approach, provided a platform to gauge public views and focused on ways to help Hong Kong reduce carbon emissions in the coming decades.
The Chairman of the SDC, Professor Arthur Li, said, "Having regard to the views received, the Council believes that Hong Kong should progressively advance to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as part of the global effort to limit the average temperature increase to well below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
"Hong Kong should formulate its decarbonisation strategy based on this vision. The strategy should serve six overarching objectives, namely driving transformative societal change towards low-carbon lifestyles, accelerating the shift to zero-carbon energy, promoting a sustainable built environment, governing transitions toward low-carbon transport systems, unlocking green and sustainable finance potential for a low-carbon transition, and steering innovations in climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience."
In support of this strategy, the SDC has put forward 55 recommendations across eight key areas, namely Target; Lifestyles; Education, Training and Research; Built Environment; Energy; Transport; City Planning and Management; and Finance. Details can be found in the report published on the SDC's public engagement website.
"As an advanced city with well-developed infrastructure, talents and financial resources, Hong Kong should be able to set an ambitious decarbonisation goal for itself. I hope all sectors and individuals in the community would be willing to contribute to this goal, as their full co-operation is essential. We look forward to the Government's positive response to the Council's recommendations," Professor Li added.
During the public interaction phase from June 14 to September 20, 2019, a total of 65 engagement events, including regional and youth forums, school outreach activities and briefing sessions, were held. Nearly 4 500 people participated. The Social Sciences Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong was commissioned by the SDC as the Independent Analysis and Reporting Agency (IRA) to analyse the more than 71 000 views collection forms (VCFs) and over 600 written submissions received. The number of VCFs received was the highest among the four public engagements conducted by the SDC in the past decade.
Apart from the SDC report, documents relevant to this public engagement including the IRA report, a digital compendium containing the VCFs, individual and organisation/company submissions and detailed records of discussions held at engagement events are also available on the public engagement website at www.susdev.org.hk.
Ends/Friday, November 13, 2020
Issued at HKT 12:40
Issued at HKT 12:40
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