Letters | Climate change impact of Hong Kong’s artificial island project must be assessed
- Readers discuss the need for climate change to be taken into account under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, the Hong Kong ID replacement process, and casual ageism in discussions of driver safety
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Ordinance and its regulations came into operation in April 1998. Since then, there has not been a major review of the ordinance until last year. Then chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced a review in late 2021, aimed at improving operational efficiency and environmental outcomes.
The essence of the EIA is to examine whether project proponents have done their best to avoid adverse environmental impacts identified through the EIA studies, or minimised them if they can’t be avoided. In cases where the impact is found to be too great, and such that it can’t be avoided or minimised to an acceptable level, the authorities can reject the EIA report.
A case in point is the original EIA report on the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line, which was rejected by the authorities to avoid damaging important ecology in the Long Valley.