Cross-border plan will be launched this year, matching participants with partners
A pilot cross-border emissions quota trading scheme will be launched later this year so that potential participants can be matched with their partners, Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said yesterday.
The expected announcement came after a top-level meeting between Guangdong and Hong Kong on cross-border co-operation that also highlighted other ongoing measures to address the regional air quality issue.
Both sides also agreed to launch a review on the progress towards the 2010 emissions reduction targets, gauging the effectiveness of the measures implemented and the future emissions trends in the region so that a reinforced strategy and measures can be drawn up.
They will also release in October the review result of the regional air quality monitoring network that came into operation last November.
The pilot emissions quota trading scheme will allow producers to buy the rights to pollute, or sell rights if their emissions are lower than their quotas. The scheme would allow trades in three main types of pollutants emitted by the power plants - sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and particulates, a government source said.
The extent of trade will be largely determined by the emissions caps imposed on power plants. The caps for Hong Kong power plants would be decided after taking into account what could be done most to lower vehicle emissions, the source said.
