https://www.scmp.com/rss/329644/feed Jill Baker is adjunct fellow at Asia Business Council. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Covid-19 has given many in Hong Kong a renewed appreciation for green living. During the pandemic, our sprawling country parks and stretches of coastline provided respite from the tense, dense city. Communing with nature was one of the things that friends told me had kept them sane over the past two years. That’s why it’s disappointing that our government does not appear more committed to a cleaner, greener environment and a more sustainable way of life. Its inaugural Retail Green Bond, marketed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178012/hong-kong-has-ability-be-green-finance-hub-none-vision?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3178012/hong-kong-has-ability-be-green-finance-hub-none-vision?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 May 2022 04:30:27 +0000 Rising Asia is a massive source of future world GDP growth. The commercial potential of the metaverse is put at US$1 trillion annually. It follows that the metaverse will need content that caters to Asia’s needs and tastes. In Hong Kong, the metaverse represents a lucrative opportunity for building a tech-enabled creator economy. Content creation for the metaverse and technologies like blockchain and NFTs could be a source of new jobs in the area. This could help invigorate the city’s hi-tech... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3167843/how-hong-kong-can-benefit-rising-asia-and-growing-metaverse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3167843/how-hong-kong-can-benefit-rising-asia-and-growing-metaverse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Feb 2022 01:45:19 +0000 Last month, lawmakers finally passed a bill to allow Hong Kong residents to be charged for their waste disposal. But, although nearly 70 per cent of Hongkongers favour the waste charge, it won’t be implemented until at least 18 months later, leaving the Environment Bureau’s Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035 swinging in the breeze. Inaction in the Legislative Council used to be blamed on pan-democrat lawmakers. That is not an issue any more since none are left. So why the delay? Do legislators... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3148575/how-speed-launch-waste-charging-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3148575/how-speed-launch-waste-charging-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Sep 2021 01:15:19 +0000 After a turbulent year, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor rounded out her policy address with a goal of Hong Kong reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The new carbon target is positive as it aligns with the landmark Paris Accord climate agreement’s global goals. Moving to carbon neutrality will have positive public health benefits for Hongkongers and force the government and business to finally put climate considerations at the heart of urban planning. Welcome as this pledge was, those... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3113896/zero-carbon-target-set-time-hong-kong-get-serious-about-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3113896/zero-carbon-target-set-time-hong-kong-get-serious-about-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Dec 2020 01:15:10 +0000 Melting permafrost triggered the collapse of a holding tank owned by Russian metals company Norilsk Nickelin in Siberia at the end of May, sending 21,000 tonnes of diesel fuel into Arctic waters in one of the worst spills of its kind. The thawing permafrost is a stark reminder that, like time and tides, climate change waits for no one, even in this era of Covid-19. Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency to deal with a spill expected to cost billions of dollars and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3089105/asias-renewable-energy-push-bright-spot-amid-coronavirus-gloom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3089105/asias-renewable-energy-push-bright-spot-amid-coronavirus-gloom?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jun 2020 09:00:21 +0000 The Business Environment Council’s Low Carbon Charter, announced on March 19, breathes new life into the moribund dialogue about improving energy efficiency in Hong Kong’s buildings. The council, which promotes environmental solutions, has long urged companies in the property sector to set targets and timelines for reducing greenhouse gas emission as part of a robust long-term business strategy. The charter is also a timely addition to a public engagement exercise on Hong Kong’s long-term... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3002297/hong-kongs-developers-should-have-common-sense-go-green-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3002297/hong-kongs-developers-should-have-common-sense-go-green-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Mar 2019 01:30:07 +0000 Many in Hong Kong had feelings of déjà vu or perhaps quiet embarrassment when the solid waste bill currently before the Legislative Council was announced. After revealing the plan to charge households and commercial establishments for waste disposal, Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing was visibly defensive. He shouldn’t be. This has the makings of a great plan. That it has been so long coming shouldn’t blind us to the positive contribution it could make. The plan means to encourage people to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2182078/how-hong-kong-can-solve-its-waste-crisis-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2182078/how-hong-kong-can-solve-its-waste-crisis-and?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jan 2019 02:30:45 +0000 This past week, as some of the deadliest wildfires on record continued to blaze in California, the San Francisco Bay Area, including Silicon Valley, has experienced air quality in the “hazardous” range – far worse, on some days, than that of Beijing during its notorious 2013 smog, before the Chinese government took measures to reduce pollutants from coal combustion. For residents of San Francisco, their present “airpocalypse” brings home the reality that, with unchecked global warming,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2175569/rival-us-and-chinese-innovators-have-common-cause?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2175569/rival-us-and-chinese-innovators-have-common-cause?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 29 Nov 2018 15:30:15 +0000