The Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development & Environmental Protection held its 16th meeting in Guangzhou today to review the progress of collaboration in 2016 and agree on the 2017 work plan.
Secretary for the Environment KS Wong and Guangdong Environmental Protection Department Director-General Lu Xiulu co-chaired the meeting.
The 2016-2020 co-operation agreement on environmental protection was signed in September.
Smooth progress has been made in 2016, including improving air quality in the Pearl River Delta region, protecting the water environment, and managing forestry and marine resources.
The two sides agreed to work towards announcing emission reduction results for 2015 in the first quarter of 2017, and finalised emission reduction targets for 2020 before mid-2017.
They completed the second review of the Deep Bay (Shenzhen Bay) Water Pollution Control Joint Implementation Programme and agreed upon further co-operation plans.
The work plan for 2017 was also endorsed. It focuses on following up on the 2016-2020 Co-operation Agreement between Guangdong & Hong Kong on Environmental Protection, implementing air pollution control measures in the two places, and completing the mid-term review on emission reduction targets and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Regional PM2.5 Study.
