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Hong Kong environmental issues
OpinionComment
Marco Chan
Lawrence Iu
Kitty Tam
Marco Chan,Lawrence IuandKitty Tam

Opinion | Hong Kong must heed global warming signs and push climate efforts harder

  • For a start, the government should codify the Climate Action Plan in law and expand the electric vehicles road map to include all vehicles
  • As the number of ‘very hot’ days in Hong Kong rises and emissions creep up, officials must take urgent action

Reading Time:3 minutes
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A child in Tai Kok Tsui sweats in Hong Kong’s heatwave in May 2018 when temperatures went above 35 degrees Celsius. Last year, the hottest day saw the mercury hit 36.1 degrees. And this year has a “high chance” of being among the city’s top 10 hottest on record, said the Observatory. Photo: Sam Tsang
Marco Chan,Lawrence IuandKitty Tam

On July 6, the world recorded its hottest day, in a week that saw records broken three times, raising concerns about climate change.

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Scientists say these extreme temperatures should not be seen as isolated incidents but as part of a larger pattern of human-induced global heating that has been unfolding over the past 150 years. Heatwaves are affecting regions from the United States to Europe and China. In Hong Kong, the frequency of “very hot” days – when temperatures reach 33 degrees Celsius or higher – is on the rise.

While Hong Kong’s greenhouse gas emissions fell drastically over the pandemic years to their lowest in two decades, they have started to rise again. This underscores the need for more urgent efforts from the government to address climate change.

With electricity generation accounting for nearly 70 per cent of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions, the government can take drastic action to cut emissions simply by reviewing its agreements with the power companies. It should also turn its attention to the next biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions: the transport sector, with road transport being the primary contributor.
The government should consider setting more ambitious goals in electrifying commercial vehicles. In 2021, it made progressive efforts towards carbon neutrality by announcing a road map to popularise electric vehicles. But as of April, the latest month for which data is available, Hong Kong still had just 39 electric public buses and five electric taxis in operation.
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The business sector is keen to play a key role in developing local green transport. To support this, the government needs to establish ambitious yet feasible targets to ban diesel buses by 2030 and create an environment conducive for the commercial sector to accelerate the deployment of zero-emission double-decker buses, including electric and hydrogen-fuelled vehicles.
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