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Who should pay
to clean up the environment? That question is moving to the forefront
of the debate over Hong Kong's environmental future. Expensive new
facilities need to be built if we are to achieve cleaner waters
and a sustainable waste management system. Further investment will
also be needed to achieve better air quality. Some people say, let
the government pay for it. But the government is not a separate
entity from the community. Its money comes from the community. It
can only invest in the environment if everyone realises they must
contribute to the costs.
Achieving a clean environment is a shared responsibility. It is shared at the government level between Hong Kong and Guangdong. It also needs to be shared at the local level. Everyone contributes to pollution through sewage, waste, fuel consumption and other activities, so everyone must participate in cleaning it up. This is the polluter pays principle in a nutshell.
The Harbour Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), for example, will cost about $20 billion to complete in its entirety and more than $1 billion annually to operate on top of current expenditure. The government cannot afford to pay for that out of its coffers and the recurrent expenses will have to be shared with the community. A public consultation on the scheme was held in 2004 and, although most of the discussion centred on the level of treatment, the question of cost is likely to arise, especially when the matter is put before the Legislative Council.
People will have to decide how much they are willing to pay for their sewage treatment and for a cleaner harbour. The public could forego the expense of HATS, but that would mean continued poor water quality in the western half of Victoria Harbour and unhealthy water at Tsuen Wan beaches. Inevitably, the goal of securing a cleaner harbour will involve trade-offs.
Trade-offs are
also an issue in waste management. Landfills are quickly running
out of space and it will take up to 10 years to build replacements.
Some in the community have argued we should pursue zero waste generation,
but that is an unrealistic goal that even the most environmentally
advanced countries cannot achieve. Instead, we need to invest in
solutions that will minimise the amount of waste requiring disposal
in landfills and increase landfill space, namely: increase waste
recovery and recycling, develop integrated waste management facilities,
extend the life of existing landfills and build new landfills.
Some of these
solutions are expensive and may involve unpopular measures, such
as incineration. The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is
adamant that it will not build facilities that cause unacceptable
harm to health or the environment. Nevertheless, facilities will
need to be built. The community will be asked in 2005 to start deciding
what trade-offs it is willing to make for sustainable waste management,
in terms of the cost and location of new facilities.
The waste and
HATS issues may seem like an additional burden for the community,
considering their emphasis on asking the community - the polluters
- to pay for these essential services. However, the principle of
asking polluters to pay is well entrenched in Hong Kong. Charges
for chemical waste and sewage disposal have been in place for years,
and in 2004 the Legislative Council passed a bill to charge for
construction waste disposal. So there are precedents for making
polluters pay their fair share of the costs of cleaning up the environment.
Interestingly,
a point raised in discussions about both waste and HATS is whether
we should take a regional perspective on these issues. Some have
suggested shipping waste to the Mainland, an expensive proposition
and one that would strain Guangdong's own landfills and other waste
treatment facilities. Others have suggested the money for HATS would
be better spent cleaning up the Pearl River Estuary. The problem
is, this is Hong Kong's waste and Hong Kong's sewage. The people
of Hong Kong have created this pollution and they must take responsibility
for managing it.
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An area where
we have successfully addressed our own problems is street-level
air pollution. A $1.4 billion package to address vehicle emissions
was announced by the government in 1999, and since then roadside
levels of respirable suspended particulates have dropped by nine
per cent and nitrogen oxides by 24 per cent. Yet, as everyone can
see, regional smog is getting worse. In this case, the problem is
a combination of internal and external factors. Pollution from Hong
Kong, particularly power plants, is mixing with that from Guangdong
and cooking in the sun to create smog. We cannot deal with this
problem on our own; this is a shared responsibility in a regional
sense and we are working with our counterparts in Guangdong to address
the matter.
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| Power
plants at Lamma Island (left) and Castle Peak (right)
contribute to the regional smog problems. |
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In 2002 the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government agreed to a set of ambitious targets to greatly reduce air pollutant emissions by 2010, as well as recommendations for achieving that goal. Since then, the EPD has worked closely with our Guangdong counterparts - sharing technical expertise and advice on pollution control - under a growing cloud of urgency. The Pearl River Delta region has one of the fastest growing economies in the world and a densely packed population of about 50 million people, including Hong Kong. Rapid growth has brought sharp increases in electricity consumption, motor vehicle mileage - and emissions.
It will be a
significant challenge to achieve the clean air targets agreed in
2002, given the many factors involved, but it can be done if all
recommendations are carried out. Hong Kong will need to invest in
reducing power plant emissions - which could entail costs to the
community - and also explore ways of collaborating with Guangdong
to achieve better control of its emissions. We have an obligation
to support Guangdong here, given the close integration of our economies
and the fact that many Guangdong factories are owned by Hong Kong
businessmen.
When it comes
to addressing Hong Kong's environmental problems, the community
usually looks to the government for answers. No other body has the
authority or resources to deal with cross-border pollution or build
major infrastructure such as landfills and sewage systems. But what
is often missing here is an appreciation that everyone who contributes
to pollution must participate in cleaning it up. Financially and
logistically, the government cannot achieve a cleaner environment
on its own. That fact has been recognised in the joint efforts of
the Hong Kong and Guangdong Governments to reduce air pollution.
What is now needed is a greater understanding in the Hong Kong community
that environmental protection is a shared responsibility.
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The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) will merge with the environment branch of the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau (ETWB) from 1 April 2005, a move that should help to make us more efficient and focused. The Director of Environmental Protection will report directly to the Principal Official, the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, and, for the first time, will be responsible for policy-making. This arrangement will not affect our work or priorities; rather, it should help us raise the profile of environmental issues.
In preparation for the change, the EPD began re-structuring internally in 2004. The Local Control Division was renamed Environmental Compliance Division, to reflect its work in fostering partnerships with industry. The six Local Control Offices from which local enforcement work was carried out were restructured into four Regional Offices. The division also took over responsibility for territorial control, enforcing legislation on such issues as environmental impact assessments, asbestos, ozone-depleting substances and dumping at sea.
In
addition to enforcement and, in future, policy-making, the
EPD's responsibilities entail monitoring environmental quality,
providing transfer, treatment and disposal facilities for
waste, advising on the environmental implications of town
planning and new policies, and handling pollution complaints
and incidents. It also runs an extensive awareness-raising
programme through its Community Relations Unit.
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Environmental protection in Hong Kong is increasingly a regional concern. Hong Kong and Guangdong are working together on a variety of cross-border issues, from addressing regional pollution issues to managing the impacts of specific projects. Working groups have been set up on regional air and water pollution and close liaison is in place over such projects as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, the Shenzhen Western Corridor, and environmental management in Deep Bay and Mirs Bay. In 2004, the EPD co-operated with the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau on the establishment of the Pearl River Delta region Air Quality Monitoring Station Quality Assurance Centre, which aims to ensure the comprehensive and accurate collection of air quality data from the joint Air Quality Monitoring Network. In March 2004, Hong Kong and Mainland authorities also signed an agreement to work together to manage the dumping of dredged materials and construction waste.
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The level
of co-operation between Hong Kong and Guangdong has increased
steadily since we first held talks on regional pollution in
the 1980s. A formal joint liaison group was set up between
the EPD and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Bureau
in 1990, and in 1999 the Hong Kong SAR Government and the
Guangdong Provincial Government formed the Joint Working Group
on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection. In
2004 the EPD's links with the Mainland were deepened after
receiving formal blanket approval for regular exchanges and
co-operation on EIA matters with the State Environmental Protection
Agency (SEPA). Previously, each exchange required approval
from the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office. The new arrangement
will help us fulfil our commitment to enhance co-operation
and exchanges with the Mainland on environmental matters.
The exchanges
and co-operation with SEPA on EIAs cover training and capacity
building, joint efforts in organising conferences and staff
exchanges. A staff exchange programme between the EPD and
SEPA was held in Beijing in the autumn of 2004, in which Hong
Kong provided information about its EIA system and shared
its expertise in managing environmental impacts from major
development projects. SEPA officers will visit Hong Kong under
the exchange programme in 2005.
In addition, the Assistant Director, Mr Elvis Au, participated in a training course on strategic environmental assessment organised by the World Bank and SEPA in Shanghai on 12-14 October. The course was beamed real-time to distance learning centres in Beijing, Xinjiang and Washington DC. Mr Au also participated in a train-the-trainer course on strategic environmental assessment, organised by SEPA for about 100 senior Mainland professionals and officials in Beijing in March.
The EPD
also participates in workshops and conferences with our Mainland
counterparts. In December 2004, staff attended China's first
international forum on EIAs, held in BoAo in Hainan, in which
the co-organisers included the Environment, Transport and
Works Bureau and EPD. The Secretary for the Environment, Transport
and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, was one of the keynote speakers
and the Assistant Director, Mr Elvis Au, was one of the Deputy
Secretary Generals of the conference.
The department
also attended a workshop on persistent organic pollutants
and a conference on incineration technology for waste in Hangzhou
in October. The workshop was sponsored by SEPA, Japan's Ministry
of the Environment, the United States Environmental Protection
Agency and Environment Canada. In Hong Kong, Mainland authorities
attended a Motor Vehicle Emissions Control Workshop 2004 organised
by the EPD, which included experts from the US and elsewhere
in Asia.
The EPD, Environmental Campaign Committee (ECC) and SEPA have organised an annual Nation-wide Environmental Competition for Youths of Mainland China and Hong Kong since 1997. In 2004, with sponsorship from Swiss Reinsurance Company, the competition carried the theme "Caring for Our Water Resources" and attracted more than 400 000 entries from universities, and primary and secondary schools.
The EPD joined a 14-member delegation led by Mr CF LAM, Chairman of the Hong Kong Waste Management Association, to visit waste management facilities in Shanghai in February 2004. Apart from the EPD, the delegation included representatives from the Highways Department, waste management contractors, an incinerator operator from Macau, university and subvented organisations, consulting firms and construction companies.
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Delegates
met with officials from the Shanghai Environmental Protection
Bureau, Pudong Environmental Protection Bureau and Shanghai
City Appearance & Environmental Sanitation Administration
Bureau, as well as professionals in waste management policy
and practices. They also visited a number of waste management
facilities including a municipal solid waste landfill and
incinerator, hazardous waste incinerator, integrated waste
treatment centre and waste recycling centre. The visit was
a milestone in promoting interaction with our waste management
counterparts in the Mainland. More such exchanges will be
organised in future.
The EPD continued to participate in international conferences and invite international experts to speak in Hong Kong, to enhance our knowledge and expertise. Apart from attending international conferences on the Mainland on EIAs, persistent organic pollutants and waste incineration, the EPD held a workshop on storm water pollution control in Hong Kong that was attended by counterparts from Tokyo and Toronto. A separate workshop on pig waste treatment, targeted at farmers, included experts from Mainland China and Malaysia. We also organised a workshop with the US Environmental Protection Agency on dioxin pollutants, in advance of the regional meeting on persistent organic pollutants in Hangzhou.
The EPD is keen to maintain regular contact with international organisations and other countries. Below are examples of our efforts in 2004.
A week-long visit to Shanghai mid-year focused on hazardous waste and healthcare waste management. The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) organised meetings for its working group on hazardous waste, which is chaired by the former Deputy Director, Mr Mike Stokoe, and for a working group on healthcare waste of which Principal Environmental Protection Officer, Mr Patrick Lei, is a member. Members shared experiences, including a presentation by Hong Kong on the use of landfills to dispose of culled chickens during the bird flu outbreak in the late 1990s and clinical waste during the SARS outbreak in 2003. Disinfectants and immediate burial by soft cover materials were used, a practice that may be applicable to other countries without sufficient incineration facilities.
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The Shanghai visit also included tours of Intel, which has adopted cleaner production and waste minimisation, the Puxi municipal solid waste incinerator and the Shanghai Chemical Industrial Park. A joint seminar was held with the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau and ISWA members, with a special focus on hazardous waste and healthcare waste. The EPD delegation also heard presentations on waste management technology in Germany, and attended a symposium on municipal solid waste management in Mainland China.
Meanwhile, the EPD joined the Chinese delegation at the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The meeting was held in Geneva in October. Some 163 countries are parties to the Convention, which aims to reduce the transboundary movement and generation of hazardous wastes to protect human health and the environment.
The United
Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) held its first regional
training programme on environmental law in Tianjin in August.
Mr Patrick Lei attended the four-day session. He was invited
to give a presentation on Hong Kong's environmental policies,
priorities and problems, laws and institutional arrangements
for protecting the environment, use of economic instruments,
participation in international and regional agreements and
collaboration with others.
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The training
session also heard from Mainland China on the latest developments
in its environmental law programme and from UN officials on
multilateral environmental agreements, such as those on climate
change and biodiversity. Participants also heard from the
UNEP on the importance of providing access to information
and justice, and public participation in the legal process.
The Tianjin government provided extensive information and
site visits to highlight its own efforts to promote environmental
management systems and technology.
A workshop
on enforcement issues was organised with Environment Canada,
with whom the EPD has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
on Environmental Collaboration dating back to 1992. The workshop
was held in March in Vancouver, with the goal of sharing information
and strategies and discussing current trends in enforcement,
compliance and inspections. The Hong Kong delegation gave
presentations on operational principles, structures and constraints,
and promoting compliance through partnerships. They also presented
two case studies, one on enforcement at the Hong Kong Disneyland
site, the other on the Shing Mun River improvement works.
Delegates learned about Canada's partnership programmes, enforcement
practices and industrial storm water management.
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Another
team of EPD staff participated in an EIA workshop in Canada
in April, organised under the Work Plan of the MOU on Environmental
Collaboration between Environment Canada and the HKSAR Government.
The workshop was a follow-up to two earlier sessions and covered
strategic environmental assessment, ecological policy, land
contamination, continuous public involvement, environmental
assessment follow-up and Hong Kong's EIAO website.
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