Hong Kong to set higher target for reducing energy consumption
New blueprint on the way as environment secretary says existing plan to reduce electricity consumption by a quarter does not go far enough
Hong Kong is to be set an even tougher target to cut energy use over the next decade - beyond the existing plan for a 25 per cent reduction.
The Environment Bureau intends to reveal the new target in an energy blueprint to be unveiled within the next few months, along with a basket of measures to help cut energy consumption across sectors and reduce carbon emissions.
Secretary for Environment Wong Kam-sing told the Post: "The new target will be an achievable one. It will be reviewed and updated from time to time. We need to be pragmatic."
The existing target was set at a 2007 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting to try to reduce global warming. It calls for a 25 per cent drop in energy use by 2030 from the 2005 level, using the quantity of energy needed to produce one unit of gross domestic product as the gauge.
However, critics have called it a "pseudo" target after it was estimated that actual carbon emissions could grow by 140 per cent above the 2005 level by 2030, as long as the economy grew at an annual rate of 4 per cent. Last year, it grew by 2.4 per cent.
Buildings in Hong Kong account for 90 per cent of electricity consumption. And Wong said that the 2009 decree that government development projects larger than 10,000 square metres must be awarded one of the top two green-building ratings would be updated to cover nearly all new government buildings.
"We hope the government will take the lead … so that the private sector will follow suit," he said, adding he saw a similar opportunity to lead the way when it came to building public housing. More than 280,000 public units will be built in the next decade.