How the Greater Bay Area plan can boost Hong Kong’s environmental collaboration

China concluded a two-day national conference on the environment in mid-May, chaired by President Xi Jinping and with top cadres in attendance. Hong Kong should pay attention as the outcomes have a direct impact on the “Greater Bay Area”.

National leaders seek to align economic and social development with environmental sustainability by 2035. Xi called on officials to practice “ecological civilisation” via six policy principles. Officials across ministries and regions must include them in their decision-making.

The first principle is to harmonise people and nature through conservation, protection and restoration. The second is to practise resource efficiency; the third prioritises problems harmful to public health, such as air and water quality. The fourth principle is the importance of mountains, forests, grasslands, rivers, lakes and farmland – development plans must protect or restore ecosystems’ functions. The fifth is a mandate for officials to strengthen environmental risk assessment capacity, update regulations and enforce them. The last principle calls on officials to engage with the world on ecological civilisation.

Hong Kong should reflect on these principles; there is an overall coherence to them. No Hong Kong administration has placed the environment alongside development in the way the mainland has. The environment is the envelop within which all human activities take place, so it should be a constant pursuit from administration to administration. After all, there is no dispute that liveability is under threat from years of environmental damage, including in Hong Kong.