Development Focus

• To vigorously take forward ecological conservation, establish the approach of green development, implement rigorous ecological protection system, promote the adoption of green and low-carbon production methods and lifestyles as well as modes of urban development and operation, and facilitate sustainable development of the Greater Bay Area.
• To put into practice ideas on ecological conservation, make full use of modern information technology, achieve the smart management of city clusters, bring more convenience to the lives of people in the Greater Bay Area, raise the quality of living of residents, and build a beautiful bay area that is ecologically safe, environmentally attractive, socially stable and culturally vibrant.
• The cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should be deepened and broadened, the internal driving forces for development should be further enhanced in the region, and the framework for an international first-class bay area and world-class city cluster that is vibrant and highly innovative with an optimised industrial structure, a smooth flow of various factors and a pleasant ecological environment should essentially be formed.
• To strengthen joint prevention and control of air pollution in the region, implement more stringent clean shipping policies, make concerted and coordinated efforts in reducing the emission of various pollutants, and take coordinated preventive and control measures against pollution caused by ozone and fine suspended particulates (PM2.5).
• To step up cooperation in ecological and environmental protection among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and enhance ecological and environmental systems in a concerted manner. To strengthen the protection and enhancement of wetlands. Establishing ecological protection barriers. To enhance the protection of green mountain and blue bay, establish ecological protection barriers for forest ecology and marine ecological belt.
• To enhance the conservation of marine resources and environment. To take forward cooperation in the management of water resources, water environment and water-related projects in the Pearl River Estuary region. To proactively pursue the demonstration of the remediation of contaminated soils.
• To nurture and develop industries such as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, and new energy vehicles, and form a belt of industry aggregation with R&D of energy conservation and environmental protection technologies as well as the development of headquarters and bases as its core.
• On cleaner production, to enhance promotion of cleaner production technologies and practices.

The Government has set out a series of environmental protection policies to mitigate environmental pollution, support environmental technology and green buildings, advocate energy saving and waste reduction as well as strengthen environmental education to build a sustainable future for Hong Kong. By taking forward various environmental protection measures and low carbon initiatives, Hong Kong aspires to be one of the greenest cities in the country.

• To tackle regional environmental issues, Hong Kong has been exchanging and cooperating with its Mainland and Macao partners on various environmental initiatives through the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection, the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Cleaner Production, and the Hong Kong-Macao Environmental Protection Cooperation Liaison Meeting.
• In September 2014, Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao signed the Cooperation Agreement on Regional Air Pollution Control and Prevention among Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macao to foster regional cooperation and enhance the regional air quality monitoring network by increasing the number of monitoring stations and parameters, and releasing real-time hourly concentration of each air pollutant.
• To bring continuous improvement to regional air quality of the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao conducted the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Regional PM2.5 Study from 2014 to 2017. Guangdong and Hong Kong are progressively implementing in the regional network routine monitoring of volatile organic compounds (VOC) concentrations.
• To further strengthen air quality monitoring, protection of water environment and nature conservation in the region, Guangdong and Hong Kong signed the 2016-2020 Cooperation Agreement between Guangdong and Hong Kong on Environmental Protection in September 2016; and a mid-term review study on emission reduction targets of air pollutants in the Pearl River Delta region was completed in 2017 concluding the achievements of emission reduction in 2015 and finalising the emission reduction targets for 2020. In 2016, Hong Kong and Guangdong established the Hong Kong-Guangdong Marine Environmental Management Special Panel to strengthen communication and co-operation on marine environmental issues, including marine refuse and response actions to marine environmental incidents, and in 2017 set up the Hong Kong-Guangdong Cross Boundary Notification Mechanism on Marine Refuse.
• In January 2019, the HKSAR Government implemented a new regulation which requires vessels to use low sulphur fuel within the waters of Hong Kong to reduce emissions and dovetail with the implementation of marine emission control areas in the Mainland. In recent years, both sides have also stepped up efforts to promote cleaner production, thereby contributing to improving the quality of the regional environment.
• Guangdong and Hong Kong will continue to promote protection and conservation of coastal wetlands, such as mangroves at the Pearl River Estuary, and to enhance exchange in management and conservation of protected areas.
• Hong Kong and Shenzhen are jointly implementing action programmes to protect the water quality of the adjoining water bodies, including Deep Bay and Mirs Bay.
• The Environmental Protection Department and the Shenzhen Municipal Government entered into agreements in December 2007 and November 2008 respectively to strengthen cooperation on environmental protection and promotion of cleaner production to improve regional environmental quality.
• A memorandum of co‐operation (MOC) was signed in November 2018 by relevant institutions and universities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Beijing, and Shanghai to promote the development and application of retro‐commissioning (RCx) of buildings in the Greater Bay Area for enhancing energy saving. Under this framework, there will be regulator symposiums, technical forums and training courses in the Greater Bay Area for exchange of experience for capacity building of trade and promoting application of retro-commissioning for development of energy efficient buildings.
• On 29 April 2020, the China Meteorological Administration promulgated the Meteorological Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (2020-2035) to further strengthen meteorological co-operation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, involving areas such as meteorological data sharing, meteorological scientific research and innovation, and training of meteorological personnel. Such co-operation would in turn help enhance the meteorological services in the three places.

MacLehose Trail, Hong Kong

Deep Bay and Mirs Bay Catchments

Source: Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau