https://www.scmp.com/rss/323105/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Imagine if our chief executive announced that everyone had to pay an extra HK$5,600 next year for their electricity to cover the cost of dealing with the effects of fossil fuel use. While this is unlikely to happen, the government is nevertheless subsidising the use of fossil fuels here. Data from the International Monetary Fund shows that this annual subsidy came to more than HK$40 billion in 2015. Electricity generation accounts for 54 per cent of the city’s fossil fuel consumption. As almost... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1998542/hong-kong-must-seize-opportunity-cut-fossil-fuel-use-favour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1998542/hong-kong-must-seize-opportunity-cut-fossil-fuel-use-favour?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Aug 2016 09:27:33 +0000 Unlike court verdicts that decide the winner and loser of the case, the Court of Appeal's ruling on the planned bridge to Zhuhai and Macau offers the possibility of both sides winning. On the one hand, it allows the government to regain the environmental permit taken away by the High Court, thus enabling the project to go ahead. On the other hand, it imposes a more stringent standard for future projects: all proponents are legally obliged 'to satisfy the environmental authorities that they are... https://www.scmp.com/article/981739/court-ruling-bridge-plan-can-further-green-cause?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/981739/court-ruling-bridge-plan-can-further-green-cause?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Less than nine months before the election of the next Hong Kong chief executive, this is a strangely quiet time. Sure, there is much talk about which 'horses' will be in the running. Yet something is missing. Are we not in the middle of the worst confidence crisis in the establishment - from government to legislature - since the handover? Isn't the next chief executive meant to lead us out of this mess? Where are the promises? Indeed, where and from whom can we seek such promises? In any other... https://www.scmp.com/article/974057/finding-fix?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/974057/finding-fix?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:00:00 +0000 The nervousness of the officials selling the plan for a third airport runway last week was matched only by the impressive line-up of the lobbying team. The voice of politicians and academics backing the plan swamped the airwaves for days after it was announced. The authority knows it has a tough plan to sell: a price tag of HK$136 billion, the biggest reclamation of land since the handover, an irreversible damage to an important dolphin habitat, and a yet-to-be quantified impact to... https://www.scmp.com/article/970095/which-way-now-albert-lai?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/970095/which-way-now-albert-lai?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jun 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Last week, the High Court ruled that the environmental impact assessment of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge project did not comply with the law. Hence, the decision of the director of environmental protection to approve bridge works was quashed. This was the result of a judicial review application by a 66-year-old woman living in Tung Chung. Her health, like that of many others, has been affected by air pollution. Between 2004 and 2008, the average maximum daily reading of respiratory... https://www.scmp.com/article/966269/full-impact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/article/966269/full-impact?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000