THE greening of Hong Kong's businesses and industries is not a black-and-white issue to Clint Marshall.
As chairman of the Private Sector Committee on the Environment, his role is to encourage local companies to get on the green path.
But as assistant general manager of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, he is also a businessman who knows only financially-sensible solutions will fly in the battle with the bottom line.
'In Hong Kong, there are people who would be happy to see the territory turned into a country park,' Mr Marshall said.
'But they have to remember there are six million people living here who have to eat. I think we have to remember common sense.' He chairs the six-year-old committee, a grouping of 22 of the territory's leading companies that pools efforts and resources on green projects. Members include the biggest hongs, major banks, developers, utilities, transportation companies and the South China Morning Post.
The committee was formed in 1989, acknowledging that government-imposed legislation alone was not enough to combat environmental degradation.