Hong Kong Industrialist Aug Oct 2021

“Climate Diplomacy” Turns the Wheels for Environmental Industries 「氣候外交」成契機 加速環保產業發展 T he climate crisis has created a turning point for the diplomatic relations between US and China despite the on-going political tension. In April, the two states issued the “US-China Joint Statement Addressing the Climate Crisis” after a high-level meeting, stating the two nations’ commitment to take actions against the climate crisis with the seriousness and urgency that it demands. Both nations will strengthen their respective plans to reduce carbon and help developing countries towards green transformation. In parallel, China has announced its vision to reach carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. This demonstrates China’s vow to work towards environmental common goals with the US and the rest of the world and has been very encouraging to the environmental industries. As a giant manufacturing state, China has a significant role to play in propelling environmental industries and green transformation of manufacturing activities. The GBA outline development plan also includes green development as one of its principles. Despite a small geographical size, Hong Kong has spared no effort in developing our environmental industries. The Federation envisions the environmental and recycling industry to be one of the pillars of local re-industrialisation. This does not only help alleviate the pressing waste management issue in Hong Kong, but also capitalise the local research, innovation and industrialisation capabilities to develop more efficient environmental technologies and solutions that can be broadly applied in GBA and other regions. The waste collected in Hong Kong can be processed to become raw materials for export to the manufacturing bases in the mainland and other economies to form a regional circular economy. This will open up exciting, new development fronts for the economy and environmental efforts in Hong Kong. 在 中美政治糾紛仍未止息之際，氣候危機卻為兩國的關係迎來轉機。在四月，中美雙方會面後發表了《中美 應對氣候危機聯合聲明》，指出雙方將會為應對氣候變化採取認真、及時的行動，各自強化減少碳排放的計 劃，更會助發展中國家邁向綠色、低碳轉型。中國稍早前亦公布2030年碳達峰、2060年碳中和的長遠目標，可見中 國在環保減碳上與美國以至世界達到共識，對環保產業具有極大的鼓勵作用。中國作為製造業大國，在發展環保 工業、推動製造業向綠色轉型中具有極重要的角色。大灣區規劃綱要亦以綠色發展為其中一個主要原則。 香港地方雖小，但對推動環保產業亦不遺餘力。工總建議環保及回收工業成為本地再工業化的一個支柱，除了為 應付越來越逼切的本地廢物處理問題，亦期望以香港的科研創新和產業化能力，創造更具效率的環保及回收技術 與解決方案，並推動在大灣區或其他地區廣泛應用。而且，在香港收集及處理的廢物可再造成原材料，出口至內地 或其他國家的生產基地，形成跨地域的資源循環，為香港的經濟和環保工作帶來動力與轉機。 Deputy Chairman 副主席 Jude Chow 周治平 LEADERSHIP VIEWS | 我觀我見 14 | 8-10/2021