The truth is out there
This time last year I was in Tibet , where temperatures climbed to 28 degrees Celsius - some 10 degrees higher than average. Even in the ecologically fragile Tibetan highlands, at altitudes of 3,800 metres, global warming has become more evident in recent years, according to Lhasa's environmental officials.
Last month I was in Shenzhen, where factories experience frequent electricity stoppages and water rationing. Excess demand causes power cuts, and the daily threat of halts to production. Irrigation is limited for the city's urban green spaces.
Beijing estimates that natural disasters such as droughts, floods, hurricanes and landslides cause annual economic losses of more than 100 billion yuan - affecting 40 million hectares of farmland and some 200 million people. In Hong Kong, a mid-summer hailstorm raised public awareness of extreme weather occurrences, bringing a sense of the global climate threats closer to home.
The climate threat is scary. But living in denial is scarier. Our government passes laws forcing all citizens to wear seat belts in case of traffic accidents. But it fails to take measures that will protect the same citizens from climate threats. Denial is an enemy of the people. Complacency is a betrayal of the truth. Hong Kong is on low-lying land, vulnerable to natural disasters and a potential rise in sea levels.
Higher temperatures increase the demand for electricity to run air conditioners, and boost the number of people with heat stress, and respiratory and communicable diseases. Hong Kong is not only reliant on fossil fuels, it also has one of the highest per-capita rates of energy consumption in the world.
In comparison with other developed countries, Hong Kong lacks legislation, strategies, incentives and education to deal with climate change. It has made only a minimal commitment to renewable energy, electricity conservation and energy efficiency. With no dedicated energy department, the responsibility for energy policy rests with many different government departments. This results in fragmented control, and a lack of leadership in planning a sustainable future in energy use.
Hong Kong gives its power-generating companies a rate of return on their investment in generating capacity - but creates no incentives to reduce energy demand. The city is ill-prepared for any climate crisis, or to assume its share of global responsibility for the issue.
As a world-class financial hub, however, Hong Kong is well placed to play a role in addressing climate change. It could do this by harnessing market forces - through a variety of green financing and banking measures, an environmentally friendly procurement policy and other steps. These could apply equally to Hongkongers' investments on the mainland. There is an urgent need to set cross-border targets and adopt joint measures to reduce the production of greenhouse gases.
Developed nations need to set an example and lead the way out of climate fatalism. It is time to break the chains and work for biosecurity, not just national security.
Children are the first and greatest casualties of the world's environmental crises. They are the first to go hungry when the rain fails and the land dries. We need to respond with care and sensitivity to our children's concerns about their world and their future. One of the most important ways is having the courage to talk and spread the truth about the threat to the world they will inherit.
It is time to get back to basics and rediscover old wisdom - to reclaim forgotten truths and foster a sense of humanity. Our future depends on the changes we make and the chains we break. It is all about living the truth.
Mei Ng is a board member of Friends of the Earth (HK)
