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In the Bulletin
From the Chairman
Legco Report
From the CEO
Cover Story
Meet the New Chairman
Chamber AGM
Busy year for your Chamber
Productive year for China Committee
'Wasting no opportunities'
Special Features
What does SARS mean
for China?
O'Rear's View
Targeting travel and tourism
China Economic Update
Tidying up the books
Business
Reinvigorate, Relaunch, and Rebuild Hong Kong
SARS Relief
Simpson Marine
Rewarding innovation
Chamber Programmes
Mission to Guangdong
Chamber Programmes
Challenges and Changes in US-Hong Kong Relations
Chamber Visits Cyberport
Chamber in Action
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING June 2003 Issue
Given our high-density population and limited land capacity, waste management is one of the most pressing environmental problems for Hong Kong. The growing amount of waste is generating enormous pressure on our waste disposal facilities and resources. Our landfills are rapidly filling up and will run out of capacity not long after the next decade or even sooner. Based on the polluter-pays principle, we submitted a position paper to the HKSAR Government in May 2002, supporting landfill charging as part of a comprehensive package to reduce waste. We urged the government to develop a proactive program to encourage waste reduction and recycling, and took the initiative ourselves to promote waste management by organising a mentoring seminar for SMEs, as well as a waste policy roundtable. In addition, we organised speaking engagements with the Waste Reduction Committee and conducted an interesting visit to, of all places, a landfill. We are now formulating a second position paper on waste management to help government develop sound policies to implement waste management. Wide range of activitiesMoreover, a number of events were organised with high-level officials like the Environment and Transport Minister Dr Sarah Liao, and other senior personalities speaking on air pollution, renewable energy, emissions trading, cross-boarder environmental issues and responsible corporate citizenship. The Chamber is also an organiser of the "Eco-Business Award," and we continue to provide the secretariat to support the Business Coalition on the Environment. Sustainable DevelopmentAmongst these activities, I want to mention one aspect in particular, that of "sustainable development, ” the concept that binds together environment, business and social responsibility. This is a concept that everybody agrees to in principle, but it is very difficult to understand the full implications in practice. So we have begun with understanding the issues. The Chamber supported the "International Symposium on Sustainable Development" organised by the HKSAR Government, and we organised a seminar on Sustainable Development Reporting to introduce the concept of "triple bottomline reporting." We are heartened to see that the government has stepped forward to establish the Council for the Sustainable Development, which includes a Chamber presence among its membership.Promoting environmental protection to the business community is a very interesting and challenging task. It is not only about green forests, white dolphins and a blue sky. It is also about responsibility, and with that comes rewards. Abridged from a speech to members by James Graham, HKGCC Environment Committee Chairman, at the Chamber's Annual General Meeting on April 24, 2003. --> Busy year for your Chamber |
If I
were to give a title to this short present-ation, I would name it "wasting no
opportunities." This is because, for a committee, we have organised quite a few
activities, thus making us quite busy. But just as importantly, waste management has been
a key theme of the committee in the past year.
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