Overview June 2021∣Youth Hong Kong
Listen to us l Huge global environmental challenges are reflected in the serious concern of the city’s younger generation.
l 全球正面臨巨大的環境挑戰，引起本港年青一代 的關注。
l Problems include climate change, pollution, waste and sustainable power generation.
l 關注議題包括氣候變化、污染、廢物處理和可持 續能源。
l Effective environmental education is the first step towards tackling them combined with youthful energy and passion.
l 有效的環保教育配合青年的積極參與，對解決相 關問題起關鍵作用。
Climate change is undeniable and people who are young today will face some of its worst effects. Last year's fall in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, caused by the pandemic, are likely to be short-lived. Just this year, May saw the highest temperatures on record for Hong Kong. Understandably, they are key actors in raising awareness. They address issues such air pollution, fossil fuels, extreme weather, garbage strewn beaches and overflowing landfills, rising mean sea levels and the risks posed by coastal flooding. Their efforts are seen in the work of numerous environment-related NGOs and the Local Conference of Youth (LCOY)* which shares the outcome of annual climate negotiations about renewable sources and carbon neutrality. On platforms such as LCOY, youth try to align their efforts with those of the government. As Hong Kong’s Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kamsing, says, “Decarbonization is closely linked to all the [government’s] efforts …, such as our energy source and power saving, transportation and transition to electric vehicles and waste reduction. These three areas contribute more than 90% of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions.”1 Power generation contributes up to 70% of the city’s annual carbon emissions. A large portion of this pollution comes from coal-fired power stations and vehicular traffic, including shipping. Renewable energy sources at present meet only 0.2% of the city’s total electricity supply. There is just one wind generator on Lamma Island and a pilot project stage using floating solar panels in reservoirs generates only enough electricity to power 36 average households for a Nonetheless, an ambitious carbon footprint reduction target of 65% to 70% by 2030, 4 using 2005 as the base, has been set by the government.
4
* See pages 10-12 for information on LCOY.
Transportation Public transport is a Hong Kong success story but there is no overall target for reducing the number vehicles on the roads, nor for encouraging cycling as transport. Yet, at 275 vehicles per kilometer of road, Hong Kong has among the highest density 5 of traffic in the world and ozone levels have nearly 6 doubled in the past 21 years. Ozone is formed when nitrogen oxide, emitted by vehicles, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), emitted from such sources as paints, solvents and cosmetics, react with sunlight and oxygen. This causes harmful smog that can lead to high levels of respiratory disease. Petrol-powered private cars are to be phased out by 2035 and the push to promote expensive electric vehicles is part of Hong 7 Kong’s ambitious goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. However, according to the 2020 air quality monitoring results, commercial vehicles including trucks and franchised buses account for more than 90% of highly polluting nitrogen oxide and as of March 2021, electric 8 vehicles made up only about 2.1% of the total.
Light pollution is another serious problem but again there is no plan for legislation to counter it. The University of Hong Kong’s Department of Physics took measurements from a number of locations in Hong Kong and found that the highest level of light pollution was in Tsim Sha Tsui, at 1,000 times brighter an average than the benchmark of a “normal” night 9 sky: the worst reading in the world. Mong Kok, Tsim Sha Tsui and Causeway Bay suffer worst.
