“The fact that [various] provincial and municipal governments [in Guangdong] are competing for low carbon energy resources in the region … is something where we need the Hong Kong government’s support,” said Chiang Tung-keung, managing director of CLP Power Hong Kong, the city’s biggest power supplier. “If we elevate this to a government-to-government discussion, and if we can have more support from the central government, that will be much easier for Hong Kong and it will take a shorter time for [us] to secure these resources.”

Besides resources, the city can also take advantage of the engineering and project management capabilities of mainland China’s companies to reduce costs.

China’s contractors “have very good technical capabilities” and are “very cost competitive,” Chiang said. “So when we build infrastructure projects in Hong Kong, we can tap their capabilities, which will help reduce our costs.”

The importance of closer cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland on decarbonisation was highlighted at the conference, amid geopolitical tensions and economic uncertainties.

The Post is “committed to provide trustworthy information about this urgent issue that defines our lifetime,” Tam said. “Informing our readers about climate change is the first step towards driving a conversation that creates an engaged public that takes action. We hope our coverage will help inform the decisions and actions that Hong Kong and the world now desperately needs.”

Kevin Rudd, president of Asia Society Policy Institute and Australia’s former Prime Minister, voiced his concern about China’s trajectory on energy transition, given a raft of new coal power projects have been approved.

“China has suffered a recent setback in its decision to ratchet back the quantum of its renewable energy transformation [and slowed its coal phase-down], in response to what it perceives to be its own economic slowdown and its anxiety about its energy security,” he said in a panel discussion via a teleconference link.

However, Chai Qimin, the director of strategy and planning at the state-run think tank the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, said China is still making progress towards boosting renewable energy from 16 per cent of consumption in 2020 to 20 per cent by 2025 and 25 per cent by 2030. It is supported by rapid development of solar and wind farms besides energy storage projects.

Hong Kong ‘can play role’ in financing Asia’s climate change resilience

Can Hong Kong help cut through the alphabet soup of global ESG rules?

There are plenty of clean energy resources in the region waiting to be exploited by companies, said Peter Thompson, director of infrastructure and East Asia energy business leader at Arup, a London-based infrastructure design, engineering and advisory firm.

The offshore areas of Guangdong are estimated to have 40 gigawatts of planned offshore wind power projects over the next two decades, he noted. This is roughly four times Hong Kong’s current total power generating capacity.

Can the Greater Bay Area withstand the high tide of climate change?

The Hong Kong government has a role to play as far as nuclear power development goes, by facilitating more investment and power purchase agreements with mainland nuclear project developers, said Luk Bing-lam, chairman of the Hong Kong Nuclear Society.

“The Hong Kong government needs to talk to the central government [to help companies] get access to as much nuclear power as possible,” he said.

Nuclear power, a zero-emission energy source, can also power the production of so-called green hydrogen, another zero-emission energy source with potential widespread decarbonisation applications in road, sea and air transport, as well as heavy industries, Luk said.

Hong Kong companies and investment institutions can also chip in by deploying their capital in green energy projects in the Greater Bay Area, to help accelerate their commercialisation, said Grace Kwok, chairman of Allied Sustainability and Environmental Consultants Group.