Letters | Hong Kong needs a carbon neutral plan to keep up with mainland China

Christine Loh is a respected environmentalist in the city and her article “Don’t miss the bus” (October 16) was enlightening. I believe Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has to face at least two big policy issues: one is to galvanise the public into getting on board the carbon neutral “bus” and the second one is to persuade her officials to consider Hong Kong’s energy problems through the new lens of decarbonisation. But Mrs Lam is no environmentalist. So how can she live up to the pledge made by President Xi Jinping at the United Nations on September 22?

In the switch to non-fossil fuel sources, nuclear energy is one of the options. But in a world that has been hit by nuclear incidents such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, should we build more nuclear generating stations? Germany has launched a programme to phase out coal, and it will also phase out nuclear power by the end of 2022.

With regard to Hong Kong, I don’t object to any kind of carbon reduction except the nuclear option because accidents could happen at any time. Shenzhen, which like Hong Kong falls within the Greater Bay Area, has a nuclear power plant in its outskirts, but then it has become a megacity. Certainly, the central government’s plan to further open up Shenzhen and allow it greater autonomy in sectors including energy, public utilities and transport is to be applauded.

What Hong Kong has to offer is not easily replaceable. Without doubt, Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, and there has long been talk of the vanishing border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen. While the physical border still remains, I believe we should work hard to serve Hong Kong and the rest of the country now and in the future.