Letters | Hong Kong’s quest for sustainability must include dimming the lights
- Readers discuss how Hong Kong companies can help combat light pollution, the need for a clear timeline on launching a carbon market in the city, forest fires’ impact on climate change, and the path to a more sustainable Covid-19 policy
Late one evening, as I looked out of the window at the glaring light illuminating the top of a bank building informing me they are the “Best Bank for Cash Management – Asia”, amid other brightly lit messages too difficult to see without sunglasses, I wondered if such excessive use of light opposite residential premises is a marketing strategy best aligned with sustainable energy use and corporate responsibility.
Light pollution is a serious problem and widespread across the city. There is nothing under Hong Kong law on the regulation of external lighting, unlike in many major cities including Shanghai, London, New York and Toronto.
In view of Hong Kong’s level of light pollution being one of the worst on the planet – our city’s brightness reportedly exceeds Paris, Shanghai and Beijing and is over twice that of New York or London – and the proximity of advertising signboards to or their location in many densely populated residential neighbourhoods, is there scope for international companies and banks to take the lead in delivering above what is minimally required under the voluntary 2016 Charter on External Lighting, which only encourages companies to restrict light use between 11pm to 7am?