'Govt Departments Should Set Carbon Emission Targets'

A green group on Wednesday called on government departments to set their own carbon emission targets and lay out a more comprehensive roadmap to carbon neutrality.

In its latest study, Greenpeace spoke to 74 departments in September about their carbon emission efforts, and examined Environmental Performance Reports released in 2021 by 44 of them.

While the government's target is for Hong Kong to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050, the study found that none of its departments had set quantifiable emission targets or a timetable for carbon neutrality.

“Actually there are so many measures they can do. I would say that after how many years of promoting carbon neutrality, they know how to do it," said Greenpeace campaigner Tom Ng.

“They know what kind of measures are needed, but they also need to show the public what are their goals, and when are they going to achieve those goals.”

Ng also called some carbon-reduction policies covered in the government reports “out-of-date”, saying some of them have been in place for almost a decade.

He said that for example in one of the latest reports, "using lead-free petrol" was mentioned as an environmental initiative, despite leaded petrol being banned since 1999.

Ng urged the government to roll out up-to-date environmental policies to realise its carbon neutral goal by 2050.

RTHK has reached out to the Environment and Ecology Bureau for a response.