Donald Tsang Yam-kuen will walk to the office today and senior officials will use public transport to show their support for the fight against climate change, as Hong Kong participates in its first World Carfree Day.
Greenpeace said at least 54 groups - including universities, companies such as HSBC, the Airport Authority and non-governmental bodies - had pledged to join the event, first organised in Europe in the 1990s.
'The initial response to the campaign is quite encouraging. We think the government officials' participation sets a role model to members of the public that we can keep our cars off the road,' Greenpeace campaigner Prentice Koo Wai-muk said.
While more than 17,000 people had signed up for the campaign, it was hard to estimate how many cars would be off the road or the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
'We really do not know how many of these people are drivers and how many of them use public transport.'
Tsang was expected to leave his car at home in Government House and walk the 500 metres to the government headquarters on Lower Albert Road. 'Depending on security and other factors relating to his work, the chief executive will make appropriate arrangements,' a spokeswoman said when asked whether he would walk to work on other days.
Other senior officials will use public transport, but those living on The Peak, which would require a 30-minute walk to work, will share a taxi. They include Chief Secretary Henry Tang Ying-yen and Secretary for Justice Wong Yan-lung. Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah will share a taxi with his wife and daughter.
