GREEN CITY STRATEGIES PROPOSED

Financial Secretary Paul Chan today proposed various green initiatives in his 2023-24 Budget to build Hong Kong into a liveable city.

In his Budget speech, Mr Chan noted that Hong Kong is making vigorous efforts to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050.

Green city

The Government will earmark $200 million under the New Energy Transport Fund for progressively commencing trials of hydrogen fuel cell electric double‑decker buses and heavy vehicles this year in collaboration with franchised bus companies and other stakeholders. 

It will also set aside $350 million to provide subsidies to four in‑harbour ferry operators for the construction and trials of electric ferries and the related charging facilities.

Moreover, a loan scheme with a 100% guarantee for the taxi trade will be put in place as an incentive for taxi owners to replace their existing taxis with battery electric ones. It is estimated that the proposed measure will involve a loan guarantee of about $6.4 billion.

In 2023-24, the Government will allocate additional funding of $62 million to gradually expand the scope of food waste collection to cover more public and private premises, including food establishments, markets, hotels and large shopping malls. The food waste collection trial scheme for public rental housing estates will also be extended to cover a total of 100 blocks, involving about 150,000 residents.

On countryside conservation, in the next two to three years, the Agriculture, Fisheries & Conservation Department (AFCD) will gradually enhance facilities in country parks and explore ideas such as providing treetop adventures, repairing wartime relics and turning them into open museums.

Fisheries development

Regarding the fisheries industry, the AFCD plans to designate four new fish culture zones this year, to provide an additional development area of about 600 hectares. Several new deep sea cages with modern mariculture equipment will also be provided in phases for renting to fisheries associations to lower their startup costs.

To promote the upgrading, transformation, modernisation and sustainable development of the agriculture and fisheries industry, the Environment & Ecology Bureau will collaborate with the industry to formulate a blueprint for its sustainable development.

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