Message from Our Chairperson - Dr. S. S. Chung
I wrote this message at a time when vegetable prices were three to four times that of their normal prices. The price hike was caused by the supply disruption due to COVID infections of a few cross-border drivers in early 2022. I am sure that many would question why I begin my writing with the price hike as it appears to have nothing to do with the environment. However, I do see a few commonalities between environmental problems and this COVID-19 induced problem.
One of the reasons for the exponential surge of COVID-19 cases in early 2022 was due to large numbers of cross-family gatherings (Wang & Chow, 2022) during the Chinese New Year holidays despite repeated appeals to the public from the government for not doing so. Similarly, one of the reasons for the unprecedentedly fast increase in global surface temperature is due to the constant failure of many nation states to reduce their reliance on fossil fuel and their obsession with economic growth despite repeated warnings from many climate specialists and environmental groups that humankind is on the verge of going beyond the 2°C safety limit.
So, whether it is COVID-19 or Climate Change, the problem persists not because human beings do not know what is the right thing to do but that there is no silver bullet to ensure collective action.
With the advent of the adverse effect of Climate Change, food supplies from China and other parts of the world are expected to become more and more unstable if not unavailable. More frequent occurrences of extreme adverse weather conditions may damage infrastructure or at least cause disruption to normal transportation routines – the same reason that is causing vegetable supply shortage in early 2022.
At the time of writing, global surface temperature has already risen by at least 1.1°C above pre-industrial levels – just less than 0.4 °C from the prudent safety limit set in the Paris Climate Conference. What makes matters worse is that global energy consumption has picked up rather than declined even with the presence of COVID-19 because many countries chose to co-exist with the virus and refused to further lockdown. The Conservancy Association in conjunction with the University of Hong Kong organized a workshop on Climate Change in December 2021. Our invited speaker, the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, professed that the Hong Kong Government has been working hard to build up climate resilience and would implement adaptation measures in Hong Kong on all fronts. However, this unexpected vegetable price hike has underscored the inadequacies of the current (climate) resilient actions of the Hong Kong government and sent a clear message to all Hong Kong citizens that there is no place for optimism bias in the advent of these two anthropogenic disasters. There is a future for this generation and future generations to come if and only if we all make concerted efforts in changing our consumption oriented beliefs, values and lifestyle. Let us not give up making a meaningful change in this last best chance.
Reference
Wang, W. and Chow, C., 2022, 19 large clusters emerge from cross-family gatherings, The Standard, 9th February, p.2.
Message from Our Chief Executive - Mr. Ken K. Y. So
One more year has passed, but the pandemic is still severe across the world. Just like all Hongkongers, The Conservancy Association (CA) is getting used to proceeding in the new normal of the pandemic. We did not stop, instead, thanks to the efforts of our directors and colleagues, we have made more new attempts. Let me tell you about our work over the past year.
Did you encounter CA colleagues when you went hiking at Tsing Yi or So Kwun Wat recently? In response to the increasing number of activities in the countryside, CA joined the “Green Hiking Etiquettes Campaign”, launched by the Environmental Protection Department, to promote the message of “leave no trace” and “bring your litter home” to citizens at hiking hot spots at Tsing Yi and So Kwun Wat.
For conservation of biodiversity, with the support from the Lantau Conservation Fund, we started conservation works at Tai O and San Tau, which both are based on ecosystem functions and community relations. At Tai O, to understand the ecosystem services functions of mangrove, in-depth study on the household sewage treatment from stilt houses is being conducted by CA and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University. For the project in San Tau Village, it is the villagers taking the initiative to seek cooperation with green groups, in order to find a sustainable way to enhance mudflat ecology, which is suffering from a decline of species due to continuous shellfish digging next to the village and the development of infrastructure in the surrounding area.
In addition, CA is being supported and working with The Hongkong Bank Foundation to launch Hong Kong’s first electric Rehabus pilot scheme. In this three-year-plan, we will find NGOs providing Rehabus services to become partners, then project experts will review relevant driving routes, parking and charging arrangements, etc. Recommendations will be made by the experts, where suitable electric Rehabuses and charging devices will be fully funded and tailored for their needs. CA will monitor and record the performance as well as gather the users’ comments of electric Rehabus for the production of an experience-based reference guide. We hope the project could facilitate the social welfare sector moving towards the goal of zero emissions.
As we have reported before, the construction work of Hong Kong’s first urban forest education center, funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club, at Nam Cheong, Sham Shui Po was delayed due to the pandemic and complicated construction environment. The team is working hard to have the center officially open in 2022 then launch relevant community education work.
Finally, our work in other sectors, such as policy initiatives, conservation follow-up cases, environmental education and community environmental work is never slack. Under the pandemic, our colleagues from the Fundraising and Branding team adopted different social platforms to strengthen communication with all walks of life more actively and attentively. We promise, even under this difficult pandemic situation, CA will continuously collaborate with the community and every sector of society in order to fulfill our mission and move towards our vision.
