A silver lining in the cloud over China’s environmental challenges
Axel Schweitzer says despite the scale of mainland China’s and Hong Kong’s environmental problems, policymakers are slowly but surely responding to public demands for sustainability
Daily, we are confronted by shocking statistics on the breadth and depth of China’s pollution challenges. Be it air, soil or water contamination, the problems seem overwhelming and depressing. Here in Hong Kong, we also face multiple environmental issues that directly affect our lives.
Business as usual is clearly unsustainable. There is growing recognition of this fact by individuals, communities, businesses and governments. Encouragingly, in both Hong Kong and mainland China, we are now seeing the emergence of a favourable policy landscape that will help address these challenges.
Why I’m optimistic China can avert an environmental catastrophe
China’s new five-year plan places a heavy emphasis on environmental improvement, requiring greater reductions in the emissions of many pollutants. Its emissions trading programme will expand from seven pilots to nationwide coverage by 2017. China’s place as a world leading manufacturer of wind and solar energy is likely to continue into the future.
Hong Kong’s first e-waste plant to be built by German recycling firm under multimillion-dollar deal
Each year, Hong Kong households and businesses throw away more than 70,000 tonnes of electrical and electronic equipment, including televisions, refrigerators and computers. That’s almost 10kg per man, woman and child living in our city. This waste contains valuable and harmful materials which, if not properly treated or disposed of, are hazardous to the environment and human health.