Status and prospects of environmental protection in Hong Kong

Abstract

Environmental protection in Hong Kong traditionally has been neglected by the government and private sector, with citizens showing little interest. Since the late 1970s, the government has taken positive steps to establish administrative structures and statutes to arrest environmental decline. Legislative processes, however, have often been delayed and the effectiveness of the laws trimmed by the strong industrial lobby. The erratic developments in the 1980s nevertheless allowed the enactment of four dedicated environmental laws and a complement of ancillary control measures. The 1989 White Paper provided a clear package of official policies and programmes to correct past ills in a ten-year comprehensive plan. This paper has the following objectives: to trace the historical development of government policies and legislation, and the related actions that have been taken to tackle the aggravated environmental quality in Hong Kong; to assess the pertinent aspects of the present environmental status with reference to water pollution, waste management, air quality and noise problems; and to evaluate the principal measures that have been effected or proposed to ameliorate the problems and to assess the prospects of environmental protection in the near future. -from Author