Opinion | How Hong Kong can heed the urgent call of the UN extinction report
- Hong Kong consumes more than the rest of the world put together on average, yet it has the capacity and resources to be a global leader of change
- The city must recognise that the dire degradation of the Earth will affect business profitability, the security and health of its citizens, and everyone’s quality of life
This comprehensive analysis, built on solid science and not hand-waving, is a clarion call for Hong Kong to forego insular, inward thinking and act boldly to diminish our ecological footprint around the world. Hong Kong has the capacity and resources to become a global leader in the transformative change highlighted by the UN report as essential to save our species from great hardship.
The business-as-usual stance will inextricably link Hong Kong to the current drivers of change and degradation of the natural world around the globe. We humans, our governance systems, the sustainability of our economies, our livelihoods, health and security, are all strongly reliant on a healthy natural world.
One can identify a long list of financial investments that directly drive the destruction and degradation of natural habitats, species populations and life-sustaining processes around the world. Hong Kong also remains notoriously active in the consumption and conveyance of increasingly rare and nearly-extinct biodiversity, including elephant and pangolin parts, shark and ray fins, rosewood, tortoises, tiger parts, rhino horn, threatened birds, and seahorses, to name a few.
Indeed, a major theme of the UN report was the strong pattern of resource extraction and production occurring in one part of the world to satisfy demand in distant regions. Hong Kong’s high consumption lifestyle has far-reaching effects.