Environmental policy and planning in Hong Kong: An emerging regional agenda

Abstract

For the past 20 years, environmental policy in Hong Kong has been driven by responses to a variety of local problems resulting in an array of environmental ordinances and supporting regulations addressing air, water and noise pollution problems, waste management and the use of EIA in the development planning process. Hong Kong's approach to environmental policy has been based on the conventional 'command and control' model of environmental management. It has, however, become increasingly apparent that many of Hong Kong's environmental problems cannot be effectively addressed solely by local initiatives but must involve broader collaborative efforts with authorities in neighbouring Guangdong Province. Furthermore, the Hong Kong SAR's efforts to address sustainability issues, which are still at an early stage, may also be facilitated by a regional rather than purely local perspective as well as by one that explores the utility of the ecological modernization model. This paper discusses the recent evolution of environmental policy in Hong Kong, the emergence of a regional environmental management agenda and the potential of ecological modernization as a basis for the development of a broader strategy to manage the environmental problems of the Pearl River Delta Region. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.