2021
Air
- Announced the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong 2035 outlining the strategies and targets for enhancing air quality in Hong Kong.
- Announced the first EV Roadmap.
- Amended legislation to tighten Air Quality Objectives (AQOs) and embarked on a new review of AQOs.
- Tightened emission standards for designated newly registered light buses and buses.
- Tightened emission caps for power plants effective from 2026.
- Signed an agreement with ferry operators on a pilot scheme to test the technical and commercial viability of electric ferries in Hong Kong.
Noise
- Completed re-surfacing about 109 local road sections with low-noise road surfacing materials, benefiting 150 000 people.
- Completed retrofitting noise barriers at 19 road sections, benefitting 64 000 people. Noise barriers for four other road sections are under construction.
- Successfully handled about 90 complaints concerning fixed industrial and commercial noise in 2021 using the "acoustic camera".
Water
- Invested $3 billion in sewerage infrastructure, bringing the total invested since 1990 to $62 billion.
- Launched the Bye Bye Microbeads Charter, a voluntary scheme for phasing out PCCPs that contain microbeads, following consultation with the trade.
- Supported sewage surveillance research to monitor the COVID-19 virus and identify sites of infectious cases through the sewerage system.
Environmental Assessment and Planning
- Vetted the environmental implications of 265 funding and policy proposals submitted to the Executive Council, Legislative Council and other decision-making bodies.
- Vetted land contamination assessment submissions for some 40 projects for redeveloping old industrial premises into residential / commercial uses in urban areas.
- Conducted more than 40 operations using SUA by the end of 2021, after an in-house drone team was established in September 2020.
Environmental Compliance
- Launched the mobile app "HoHoSkips" to support more efficient handling of renovation waste.
- Stepped up inspections and enforcement against peddling noise from shops.
- Implemented the Mercury Control Ordinance.
Waste Reduction
- Unveiled the Waste Blueprint for Hong Kong 2035.
- Commissioned two new Recycling Stations in Sai Kung and Wan Chai districts.
- Concluded a one-year technical trial on smart recycling systems and developed a local platform for extended application of different smart recycling hardware and software across Hong Kong.
- Saw about 120 000 members of the public participate in clean recycling using GREEN$ cards.
- Extended Green Outreach for waste reduction and recycling to 18 districts.
- Continued to operate the community recycling network GREEN@COMMUNITY with about 150 collection points. One group of outlets, the 22 Recycling Stores, received an average monthly quantity of clean recyclables that was four times more than in the previous generation of community recycling centres.
Waste Facilities
- Commenced operation of the Y·PARK to turn suitable yard waste into recyclable products.
- Awarded a contract to set up and operate a Pilot Biochar Production Plant.
- Continued to develop O·PARK2 to increase capacity for handling food waste, with commissioning expected in 2024.
- Continued to develop a trial scheme for co-digestion of food waste and sewage sludge at the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works, to be commissioned in 2023.
- Continued with design and construction works of I·PARK1, to be commissioned in 2025.
- Completed basic extension works of Southeast New Territories (SENT) Landfill, enabling the intake of construction waste from November 2021.
- Completed the tender assessment of the Northeast New Territories (NENT) Landfill extension project.
- Continued with preparations to extend West New Territories (WENT) Landfill.
Energy
- Pledged to cease using coal for daily electricity generation by 2035.
- Announced Hong Kong's first renewable energy (RE) target to increase its share in the fuel mix to 7.5% to 10% by 2035, and subsequently increase to 15%.
- Announced the targets of reducing electricity consumption of commercial buildings by 30% to 40% and that of residential buildings by 20% to 30% by2050, and achieving half of the above targets by 2035.
- Approved more than 17 000 applications under the Feed-in Tariff Scheme by the end of 2021 since its launch in 2018.
Nature Conservation
- Proposed that a WCP system be established around Deep Bay.
- Enhanced the PPP Scheme to facilitate conservation of ecologically important sites while also unleashing development potential.
- Approved 17 countryside conservation and revitalisation projects under the CCFS and facilitated guesthouse licence application at Lai Chi Wo.
- Opened the Hoi Ha Visitor Centre.
- Expanded the Sham Wan Restricted Area and extended its restricted period to enhance protection of the endangered Green Turtles.
- Implemented fully a ban on the local ivory trade to protect endangered elephants.
- Celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Hong Kong Geopark.
Building Partnership
- Produced five short, animated videos to promote good practices and green messages to vehicle repair workshops.
- Collaborated with the Hong Kong Construction Association and Development Bureau to promote environmental best practices in the construction industry.
- Held talks with potential restaurant license applicants on equipment to control cooking fumes.
- Launched the Subsidy Scheme for Retrofitting Roadside Skips 2021-22.
Community Awareness
- Promoted plastic-free takeaway through the pilot scheme "ben don go!" to lend out reusable meal containers.
- Launched the IN-NO Plastics Challenge to attract innovative proposals from tertiary students on reducing disposable plastics.
- Launched the "Eco-trendsetter Campaign" to promote green lifestyles among foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong.
- Launched the online "ECC Low Carbon Lunch x Talk" which attracted more than 213 000 views.
- Continued the Reduce and Recycle 2.0 Campaign.
- Approved 238 community-initiated projects through the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF), providing a total grant of about $193.3 million.
- Received a record 3 137 entries to the 2021 Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence (HKAEE) and 94 entries for the 2021 Hong Kong Green Innovations Awards (HKGIA).
- Engaged more than 10 500 students through the Student Environmental Protection Ambassador Scheme and Green Prefect Programme.
Sustainable Development
- Launched a public engagement exercise on control of single-use plastics.
- Welcomed participation by about 31 000 teachers and students in the 2020-21 Sustainable Development School Outreach Programme and the Programme was extended to primary schools.
- Launched the 14th round of applications for the Sustainable Development Fund (SDF).
- Launched the Long-term Decarbonisation E-Learning Platform.
Climate Change
- Announced an interim target to reduce Hong Kong's carbon emissions by 50% before 2035, as compared to the 2005 level, and be carbon neutral before 2050.
- Released "Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050" mapping strategies and actions to achieve carbon neutrality
- Approved 14 applications under the $200 million Green Tech Fund.
Cross-boundary And International Co-operation
- Held the 3rd meeting of the Hong Kong- Guangdong Joint Working Group on Environmental Protection and Combating Climate Change (JWGEPCCC) to review progress of collaboration in 2021 and agree on a work plan for 2022.
- Held the 32nd Hong Kong-Shenzhen Environmental Co-operation Forum to review progress of collaboration in 2021 and agree on a work plan for 2022.
- Launched a joint study with Guangdong and Macao on the formation, characteristics and transportation of ozone in the Greater Bay Area.
- Approved 330 projects in the latest phase of the Cleaner Production Partnership Programme, which commenced in June 2020, involving total funding of over $60 million.
- Implemented the Mercury Control Ordinance to ensure Hong Kong's full compliance with its obligations under the Minamata Convention on Mercury.
- Held Eco Expo Asia 2021, organised by Hong Kong Trade Development Council and co-organised by the ENB, on the theme "Promoting Green Recovery for Carbon Neutrality".