The United Nations Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) published a global assessment in 2019, indicating that nearly a million species could face extinction due to human damage to the environment in the next few years.
In fact, the ecological environment is very critical to the survival of human beings. Humans cannot survive in a world without other creatures, forests and oceans.
If human beings want to coexist with the ecological environment, they must follow the concept of "sustainable development" to develop.
However, while countries around the world are working hard to study related topics, the Hong Kong government still stands on the opposite side of conservation and development, and has always run counter to "sustainable development".
Ecological conservation is the global responsibility
As early as 1987, the United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development published a research report - "Our Common Future" at the General Assembly, which officially defined the term "sustainable development": "Sustainable development refers to the of evil needs without compromising the developmental model of future generations to meet their needs.”
Later, Oxford scholar Kate Raworth put forward the "Winter Dumping Economic Theory", pointing out that economic development should provide a basis for social needs, and respect and not exceed the carrying capacity of the earth.
This theory provides a limit for "sustainable development", and each country should abide by the upper limit of development to achieve the optimal state of sustainable development.
In order to achieve this goal, countries around the world have paid great attention to environmental protection. According to the statistics of the United Nations environment department, over the past 50 years, governments around the world have signed more than 500 international environmental agreements. Change-related, such as the most well-known "Paris Agreement", but such agreements have little practical effect on environmental protection, and require countries to strengthen policy cooperation.
There is a slogan in environmental conservation: "think global, act local" - starting from the city in which you are located, and all actions will have an international impact.
So, in terms of environmental protection, does Hong Kong belong to the construction group or the destruction group?
In order to achieve this goal, countries around the world also pay high attention to environmental protection. Over the past 50 years, governments around the world have signed more than 500 international environmental agreements.
(Associated Press)
Hong Kong's performance is too mixed
In the 1980s, Hong Kong's environmental protection policies kept pace with the international pace. After the establishment of the Environmental Protection Department, they carried out controls on environmental issues that seriously affected the quality of life of residents, such as the establishment of the Waste Disposal Ordinance and the Water Pollution Control Regulations. "Wait.
At that time, the government's policy thinking of "medicating the head with a headache, and treating the foot with a sore foot" was surprisingly effective.
Hou Zhiheng, chief lecturer of the School of Biological Sciences of the University of Hong Kong, commented on Hong Kong's conservation policy, and pointed out that from the comparison of past policies, the performance is still "up and down". The most typical example of "falling off" is the Lung Mei Beach incident which has caused a lot of trouble over the years.
Tai Po Lungwei Beach was originally a mudflat of great ecological value. More than 400 marine species such as seahorses, spotted sand starfish, and manatees have been recorded. Interest, SSSI) very adjacent places.
However, in the early years, the Tai Po District Council pushed the government to build artificial beaches on the grounds of "the lack of beaches in Tai Po".
Later, the government made a decision to include the plan as one of the 25 priority municipal works in the 2005/06 Policy Address.
At that time, the plan attracted attention and opposition from all walks of life, and Hou Zhiheng was also one of the opponents. "Many members of the university said that this beach is not suitable for a swimming beach. The government's determination is fundamentally against ecological theory."
At that time, the Lung Mei artificial beach project attracted attention and opposition from all walks of life. Hou Zhiheng was also one of the opponents, arguing that the plan violated ecological theory.
(Photo by Huang Baoying)
As a result, after the opening of Lung Mei Beach, ecological crises emerged one by one - some of the relocated marine life returned to Lung Wei Beach, and whenever the beach tide ebbs, there will be sea urchins all over the place. Today, 90 cases of swimmers being stabbed by sea urchins or jellyfish have been recorded. The attitude of swimmers towards marine life is also very rough, and some children even play starfish as darts.
It is true that the government's justification for the incident was rather weak and its handling was inappropriate, but which procedure went wrong in the end that caused this "tragedy" to happen?
Environmental education is extremely important
Whether it is the "origin" of Longwei Beach or the performance of swimmers after the opening of the beach, it can also fully reflect the general public's incomprehension of ecological conservation.
However, the environmental protection awareness of Hong Kong citizens is not weak. According to the 2010 Hong Kong University Public Opinion Research Project "Public Opinion Survey on Environmental Protection", although 96% of the respondents agreed that environmental protection is everyone's responsibility, only 23% believed that Do enough for the environment.
"There are many people who think that environmental awareness is the public knowing that certain behaviors should not be done. In fact, it is not so simple. Knowledge is only one of the factors. The transformation from knowledge to attitude and finally to behavior is the ultimate goal of education. If there is a chance, this process will stop in the middle.” Zeng Baoqiang, head of the Department of Science and Environment at the Education University of Hong Kong, reiterated that whether the public will conserve the environment or even promote sustainable social development depends on many factors.
Li Zijian, Chair Professor of Curriculum and Teaching at the Education University of Hong Kong, explained that in values education, in order to make a person put his beliefs into action, he needs to go through four steps - "knowing", "feeling", "intent" and "doing" .
"Knowing" refers to knowledge related to environmental protection, "Qing" refers to their emotions about the environment, and "Yi" refers to their willpower for environmental protection.
Only by reaching the above three steps, the citizens can do the last step - action.
However, Zeng Baoqiang said frankly that although public education is important, it is "difficult to do." Even if the concept of environmental conservation is promoted to the public, if there is no certain incentive, they may not take action.
In addition, the behavior of environmental protection is related to social and cultural thinking. Li Zijian pointed out that if a local or country has a strong sense of community, it will be easier to gather forces to carry out environmental protection activities for waste management or social welfare.
It is a pity that Hong Kong is influenced by the British colonial culture and has little sense of community. The citizens rarely act for collective interests.
Zeng Baoqiang and Li Zijian believed that the "Sustainable Development Committee" of the Environment Bureau had not been able to exert its maximum effect, and hoped that the Committee should strengthen the promotion of sustainable development education in the future.
(Photo by Huang Baoying)
Fortunately, education is exactly a tool that can change society and culture. As long as a "multi-pronged" education strategy works together, education can help balance social development and conservation in the long run.
Li Zijian believes that environmental education in Hong Kong should focus on three aspects: First, formal education from kindergarten to primary school, and then to secondary school and university, can instill knowledge and concepts of environmental conservation into the younger generation, so that they can be nurtured from an early age Second, non-formal education in technology is carried out, relevant researches are conducted by environmental groups and university professors, and activities are held in schools or communities to let the public know more about relevant information; third, environmental protection training is carried out at the professional level For example, some countries will implement environmental education laws to allow different industries to receive training on a regular basis, which the Hong Kong government can follow.
In addition, Zeng Baoqiang and Li Zijian also believed that the "Sustainable Development Committee" of the Environment Bureau failed to exert its maximum effect, and hoped that the Committee should strengthen the promotion of sustainable development education in the future.
EIA system is difficult to "check"
In addition to public education, the key to "sustainable development" is whether the authorities have sufficient knowledge and research to minimise the environmental impact of such controversial plans as Longwei Beach.
The Government enacted the Environmental Assessment Ordinance (hereinafter referred to as the EIA Ordinance) in 1998, which stipulates that any large-scale development projects must be assessed on the foreseeable environmental impacts and risks caused.
Nonetheless, the Lung Mei Beach incident reflects the inadequacy of the EIA Ordinance, which puts development projects above conservation principles.
Lung Mei Beach is about 413 meters away from the SSSI of Ting Kok Mangrove Forest. It is also a special area of Ma Shi Chau with high ecological value to the coast. Therefore, the government must pass an environmental assessment when rezoning it into an artificial beach (hereinafter referred to as the EIA), understanding the impact and researching ways to reduce the impact can make things happen.
However, the outside world has raised a lot of doubts about the EIA system, and the Longwei Beach incident further cites the inadequacies of the EIA system.
First of all, the EIA report of Longwei Beach has always been questioned for statistical errors. For example, the EIA pointed out that the ecological value of Longwei Beach was low and there were only three types of crabs. However, an ecological inspection team found rare fish that were not mentioned in the EIA report. More than ten kinds of crabs.
However, the Environmental Advisory Committee still approved the EIA report and issued the environmental permit despite numerous uncertainties and opposition.
In addition, Hou Zhiheng believes that it is not expected that the creatures will "recolonize" (remove back) Longwei Beach after the opening of the beach. The impact on the environment is really a "missing count" in the EIA.
The outside world has raised a lot of doubts about the EIA system. The Lung Mei Beach incident even cites the inadequacies of the EIA system. For example, the environmental impact of the operation stage of Lung Mei Beach has not been predicted.
(Photo by O Jiale)
Since the "missing numbers", the authorities should also take relevant actions to prevent the situation from further worsening, but they did not take any action, and their performance extends to the second problem of the EIA - too institutionalized.
The EIA system only focuses on the short-term impact of the project on the environment, rather than the long-term ecological impact. Therefore, the technical memorandum of the Lungwei Tan EIA permit does not specify the treatment methods on the biological return beach.
However, Hou Zhiheng believes that even if the environmental permit does not list relevant matters, if the government cares about marine life, it should make later remedial measures.
However, this is a "common problem" of the government. It will only follow the technical memorandum of the EIA, and will not follow up the follow-up situation.
The most important thing is that the EIA system is too rigid. It only lists the most basic requirements that do not affect the environment, and will not be adjusted according to the situation or time, so that the mitigation measures cannot truly and effectively protect the impacted environment and ecology.
In addition, the EIA system is also a relatively passive mechanism. The Environmental Advisory Committee has no power to require any project to undergo an EIA, but when a project exceeds a certain development scope, the "EIA Regulations" will compel a project to undergo an EIA.
The EIA system has indeed tried to suspend some plans that have an excessive impact on the environment. For example, in 2001, the Environmental Advisory Committee rejected the plan of the Sheung Shui to Lok Ma Chau Spur Line to build a bridge, so as not to affect the wetlands near San Tin.
However, this example is still very few. The EIA can only judge whether the project meets the environmental protection standards, not whether the project has an urgent need for the society. Longwei Beach is the "victim" of this loophole.
The importance of the EIA Ordinance lies in its ability to serve as a "gatekeeper" to achieve a balance between development and conservation. If it fails to "check" the social benefits brought by development projects, it will only become a "rubber stamp" .
Habitat compensation is not ideal
The above problems reflect the government's attitude towards development and conservation. They often act with the attitude of "development first, compensation later", and they also stand on opposite sides of conservation and development.
"Humans need many things provided by the natural environment, such as fresh air and clean water. Without mountains and forests, the quantity and quality of biodiversity will be poor." Hou Zhiheng reiterated.
However, with the attitude of "development first, compensation later", the government does nothing but harm to "sustainable development", and the biggest problem is that there are many deficiencies in the government's ecological and environmental compensation mechanism.
Hou Zhiheng pointed out that human beings need many things provided by the natural environment, such as fresh air and clean drinking water.
(Photo by Zhong Weide)
Ecological environment compensation (habitat compensation) is a kind of "no net loss", which is to offset the damage to species habitat and biodiversity caused by urban development through afforestation or restoration of degraded land elsewhere.
However, Hou Zhiheng criticized that Hong Kong's habitat compensation mechanism is not perfect. The government often only tells him that the compensation plan is successful, but has been reluctant to conduct post-mortem studies and provide data.
If the Government wishes to balance development and conservation in this way, it should conduct more intensive studies and adjustments, and should no longer follow the mentality of "getting it done".
However, the resources required for habitat compensation are huge, and it is difficult to achieve the desired effect. To achieve a balance between development and conservation, it must be dealt with from the fundamental urban planning.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor proposed the "Northern Metropolis" in this year's Policy Address, planning to turn the New Territories North into an innovation and technology base.
Although the Government plans to recover privately-owned wetlands for conservation, on the other hand, it proposes to use the wetlands in the "Wetland Buffer Zone" and even the wetlands in the "Wetland Conservation Area" for development purposes.
Tan Xiaoying, the former president of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners, believes that if these areas are really to be developed, more detailed plans should be carried out to reduce the impact on migratory birds in the area. For example, the construction of lower buildings should be considered, and no glass curtain walls should be built.
"Northern Metropolis" is a "second chance" for Hong Kong's urban planning. Tan Xiaoying believes that "Northern Metropolis" should no longer be "new towns for new towns, mountains for mountains", but a fusion of the two, such as Connect the entire city and the surrounding natural environment with "blue and green corridors" (green trails), and the construction closest to the green belt should be more and more natural. "If we really want to grow these places this time, we should Go to "play" some designs, but the rural environment and the urban area will not feel very separated, and the two can respect each other." The "respect" mentioned by Tan Xiaoying is exactly the quality that the government lacks now.
"Sustainable development" should no longer be reduced to a "slogan" in the eyes of the government, but to truly allow "conservation" and "development" to go hand in hand to achieve true "coexistence".
Tan Xiaoying believes that the "northern metropolitan area" should no longer be "new towns for new towns, mountains for mountains", but a fusion of the two.
(Photo by O Jiale)
Eco-crisis in-depth report series:
Ecological crisis 1｜"Sustainable Development" Global Responsibility Policy Failure to Bring Ecological Disaster
Ecological crisis 2｜What's wrong with "environmental protection education" for citizens who know but do not do it?
Ecological crisis Three | Three major deficiencies in the EIA system
ecological crisis. 4｜The concept of "development first, conservation later" should go hand in hand