Hong Kong News Hub: ‘Climate inaction’: Hong Kong green group urges gov’t to promote renewable energy as electricity bills to drop in 2024

A Hong Kong green group has called on the government to promote renewable energy and encourage sustainable habits, as authorities announced that the city’s electricity companies would be lowering charges in 2024.

The city’s chapter of international NGO Friends of the Earth said in a statement on Tuesday that there was a “pressing need” to decarbonise the power sector and increase the proportion of renewable energy in Hong Kong’s fuel mix.

“Global temperature records have been broken repeatedly this year, as heat waves swept across the world. 2023 is likely to become the hottest year on record,” the NGO’s statement read.

The government announced on Tuesday that tariffs for the city’s two electricity companies, Hongkong Electric and CLP, would drop by 16 per cent and 7.4 per cent.

The fall was attributed to a decrease in international fuel prices, which offset the increase in the companies’ basic charges.

Hot weather heatwave crosswalk — Photo: Lea Mok/HKFP

Francis Cheng, the managing director of Hongkong Electric, said he believed fuel prices would be volatile amid geopolitical tensions in the coming year.

Electricity prices saw a sharp increase this year, with Hong Kong Electric and CLP hiking prices by 19.8 and 45.6 per cent. The rising costs stemmed from a global increase in the price of fuel exacerbated by Russia’s war in Ukraine, CLP said.

CLP and Hongkong Electric are the sole electricity providers in Hong Kong, with the former providing power for Kowloon, New Territories, and the majority of the outlying islands, and the latter powering Hong Kong Island, Ap Lei Chau and Lamma Island.

‘A heavy price for climate inaction’

Hong Kong has pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2050, but climate activists have warned that the city has made “little or no progress” towards its climate goals.

Flooding at Temple Mall in Wong Tai Sin, Hong Kong, on September 8, 2023. Photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP.

In its Tuesday statement, Friends of the Earth cited a study published by scholars projecting that adverse weather events in the city – including extreme rainfall and hot nights – would become more severe.

Hong Kong experienced several extreme weather events this year, including an unprecedented rainstorm in September that paralysed much of the city, flooding streets and MTR stations and causing landslides.

Friends of the Earth said humanity was “already bearing a heavy price for climate inaction.” The NGO appealed to the government to “introduce new technology and renewable utilities” and promote the long-term development of renewable energy, as well as encourage energy saving practices.

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