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Hong Kong Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, attended the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) co-organized by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy in San Francisco from September 12 to 14. 

At the summit, global political and business leaders as well as different stakeholders held an in-depth conversation on the benefits of delivering a clean energy economy and discussed the urgent need to address the impact of climate change on human life and prosperity.

At a parallel session on September 14 entitled “Fast Mitigation: Super-pollutant Solutions to Cut the Rate of Warming in Half” he spoke on Hong Kong’s experience in mitigating climate change.  Mr. Wong pointed out that Hong Kong was the first city in Asia to mandate a fuel switching requirement for ocean-going vessels, i.e. switching from heavy fuel oil to low-sulphur fuel (Sulphur content not exceeding 0.5 per cent) while at berth, adding that such initiatives can help improve air quality and mitigate climate change.

On September 12, Mr. Wong attended the Cities4Climate conference, an affiliate event of the GCAS.  At the session entitled “In conversation: Where Equity Meets Sustainability”, he introduced Hong Kong’s work in combating climate change, including the challenges faced in the city’s compact environment and the opportunities arising from it.

During his stay in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr Wong also visited Facebook Headquarters, where he toured the campus and met with the Director of Sustainability, Mr Edward Palmieri, and the Strategic Initiatives Manager, Ms. Chaya Nayak, to understand more on the company’s initiatives related to sustainable development and its leading role during natural disasters and other crises.

He also visited the Salesforce Transit Center, a newly opened intermodal transit station for bus and rail services, to see its green building features.

Mr Wong also took time to tour the material recovery and sorting facilities at the John A Legnitto Environmental Learning Center opened by Recology to learn more about its waste reduction and clean recycling work. He also paid a visit to the Google San Francisco Office to understand its sustainability measures and green energy policies; as well as met with the senior management of the California Academy of Sciences to exchange views on environmental conservation and sustainability issues.