Regional Collaboration

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Tackling Marine Refuse

With a view to enhancing co-operation in tackling marine environmental problems including marine refuse in the region, Hong Kong and Guangdong set up the Hong Kong-Guangdong Marine Environmental Management Special Panel (the Special Panel) under the framework of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection in October 2016 to enhance exchange and communication on various regional marine environmental matters. These include, among other things, setting up a notification and alert system on marine refuse, performing real-time monitoring of the rainfall data in Pearl River catchment and combating illegal marine dumping activities, etc.

Since massive amount of marine refuse may occur after heavy rainfalls, the Environmental Protection Department has set up the notification and alert system on marine refuse to perform real-time monitoring of the rainfall data of Hong Kong and 13 cities of Guangdong Province in the Pearl River catchment and to predict the coastal areas of the two sides which may be potentially affected by massive amount of marine refuse, so as to provide necessary information to better facilitate relevant departments of both sides to make resource deployment in advance to address the problem and to take timely follow-up actions as and when necessary. Both sides have also established the Hong Kong-Guangdong Notification Mechanism on Marine Refuse with a view to enhancing the mutual responsiveness to the marine refuse issue. The notification and alert mechanism will be activated allowing one side to notify the other of heavy rain or significant marine environmental incident. Such information allows relevant departments of both sides to make resource deployment in a timely manner and make preparations accordingly.

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Simulation of Dispersion of Marine Refuse under Southwesterly Wind and Sea Current
Simulation of Dispersion of Marine Refuse under Southwesterly Wind and Sea Current

Hong Kong and Guangdong will continue to explore measures to manage and reduce marine refuse through the Special Panel with a view to continuously improving the regional marine environment; and work together under the notification mechanism to enhance the mutual responsiveness to the marine refuse issue.

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