Page 147 - 大舜基金（十周年紀念特刊）

Carbon neutrality – The Greater Regarding the carbon intensity of our electricity supply,
the connection of Hong Kong’s distribution grid across the
Bay Area, a role model for other border will be instrumental in reducing the supply-side carbon
high rise, high density cities in sub- intensity in Hong Kong and other GBA cities. Hong Kong
has long been investing in renewable or nuclear plants in
tropical regions the Chinese mainland. Looking to the future, this model of
collaboration will be more important than ever before.

Our country has committed to carbon neutrality by 2060. Hong Regarding off-setting, China was one of the first countries to
Kong, as a major city in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), has also implement carbon trading. There are now many projects and
committed to the same by 2050. programmes that qualify for carbon credits. In Hong Kong,
the building sector can purchase carbon credits from the
This commitment poses specific challenges to high rise, high mainland.
density cities in sub-tropical regions. So far, no such cities in
other parts of the world have got all the solutions needed to All of the above mentioned measures are related to
meet this complex challenge. operational carbon only. Advancing Net Zero also requires
the building sector to think in terms of whole life cycle carbon.
China, like other countries in the Asia Pacific, is facing rapid This means that embodied carbon must be taken into account
urbanisation. It is forecasted that by 2050, 60% of the world’s as well.
city dwellers will be living in Asia Pacific. High rise and high
density will inevitably become the model for both existing and Achieving that will principally require a green product market
future cities. The experience of the GBA’s cities in transitioning for products that have low embodied carbon. In Hong Kong,
towards carbon neutrality will create an invaluable roadmap our green product market is currently inactive. On the demand
for them to follow. side, there is not a strong commitment among developers
to fully implement green procurement policies. The major
For a city to become carbon neutral, the building sector must reason is lack of choice, since their procurement policies often
be the main contributor. In Hong Kong, for instance, the require at least three choices before a decision can be made.
carbon emitted by the building sector is responsible for over The second reason is that green products often cost more. If
60% of the city’s operational carbon footprint. the GBA’s building sector can promote the implementation of
green procurement policies and provide information on what
The World Green Building Council is currently running a green products are needed, I believe that suppliers in the
project named “Advancing Net Zero”, and Hong Kong has mainland will be able to provide an adequate supply to the
already committed to drive this initiative in the city’s building green product market both in the GBA and other parts of the
sector. It provides an excellent opportunity for the GBA’s world.
building sector to jointly participate in this important global
project. In other areas, I’m pleased to report that Hong Kong is making
much stronger progress. For instance, Hong Kong is becoming
Our project strategies include 1) reducing energy consumption, a vibrant international green finance hub with well-established
2) providing on-site renewable energy, 3) reducing the carbon processes for the issuance of green bonds, green loans and
intensity of the electricity supply, and 4) carbon offsets. other facilities. This will undoubtedly accelerate the maturity of
the green product market both on the supply side and demand
Hong Kong is the first truly modern city within the GBA. The side. Green finance will also provide a lower cost of capital for
standard of our building services engineers are among the developers, giving them the incentive to build more efficient
highest in the world in terms of designing and operating large buildings.
building services systems. In recent years, developers have
made remarkable progress in enhancing the efficiency of their As we look to the future, the Hong Kong Green Building
buildings. A recent survey indicated that many buildings in Council has already crafted its “Advancing Net Zero” strategies
Hong Kong have already achieved 30% to 40% improvements for a new era of progress. These include:
in their efficiency. This can largely be attributed to the • Establishing a target setting system to enable the industry
leadership of the HKSAR Government, which initiated retro- to know what is required for their buildings to achieve the
commissioning as part of its climate action plan back in 2015. below 2ºC target. Once they know their target, they can then
In 2018, Hong Kong Green Building Council has taken the lead work out their own roadmap to achieve that target.
to have an MOU signed by seven organisations in Hong Kong • An Advancing Net Zero Ideas Competition for designing
and across the border, including Tsinghua University and the future buildings and retro-fitting existing buildings. This will
Hong Kong’s Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, motivate relevant professionals to start building up their
to jointly promote retro-commissioning throughout the GBA. capacities for providing solutions to their clients.
• An Advancing Net Zero International Conference to share
Retro-commissioning is not just a low-cost initiative to our experience and knowledge with similar cities worldwide.
enhance a building’s energy performance. It also has a long- This is important not just to showcase what we have
term impact, helping to transform the building industry from achieved, but also to fulfil our duties as a global citizen
experience-based to knowledge-based energy management. regarding climate change.
This transformation is of paramount importance to grasp the • Conducting research to sustain the momentum and
opportunities created by digitalisation, an area in which other constantly improve our understanding of evolving challenges
GBA cities are already leading the world. and the development of new solutions.

In the field of renewable energy, too, China is now a world I believe if cities in the GBA can also participate in the above
leader in research and production. This inevitably generates initiatives, we can undoubtedly assume a global leadership
opportunities to significantly increase on-site renewable role and become a role model for other high rise, high density
energy generation in GBA cities. cities around the world.

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