Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan attended the activities of the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change yesterday in Dubai and delivered closing remarks at the China Corner's Side Event.

In his closing remarks, he said that the country has set up the dual carbon targets of achieving the peak of carbon emissions before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Since Hong Kong's carbon emissions reached its peak in 2014, a more aggressive target of achieving carbon neutrality before 2050 and reducing carbon emissions by half before 2035 has been set up.

He pointed out that the per capita greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 in Hong Kong amounted to about 4.55 tonnes, when comparing with that of 14.4 tonnes in the United States and of 7.7 tonnes in the European Union, the city's decarbonisation progress is not worse than other regions.

Hong Kong has set out four decarbonisation strategies, namely net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport and waste reduction, to actively reduce carbon emissions from source.

In the area of energy transition, Hong Kong has ceased to build coal-fired generating units since 1997, and strived to reduce the use of coal in power generation with the target to stop the use of coal for daily electricity generation by 2035; promote the popularisation of electric vehicles and target to stop any new registration of fuel-propelled private cars including hybrid vehicles in 2035 or earlier; and heavily invest in the development of waste-to-energy facilities to achieve zero landfill by 2035.

Mr Tse stressed that to cope with the extreme weather due to climate change, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has set up a task force led by the Civil Engineering & Development Department to conduct a comprehensive review of the capability of infrastructure to cope with climate change.

A steering committee has also been set up to enhance interdepartmental co-ordination in the response and recovery stages.

Mr Tse added that, being an international financial centre, Hong Kong can provide a green financing platform by making use of blockchain technology, fintech, green bonds, etc to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality by different parts of the world and to developing a more sustainable future.

This morning, Mr Tse met Secretary General of the Executive Council of Dubai Abdulla Mohammed Al Basti to share the strategies and experiences on combatting climate change, and exchange views on future collaboration between the two places.

After the meeting, Mr Tse visited the innovation centre of the Dubai Electricity & Water Authority and the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to learn about the development of renewable energy there.