Past Event
2022-02-26
Local Conference of Youth Hong Kong 2021
More than 100 young people in Hong Kong came together online this weekend to discuss climate change, and exchange ideas and information on actions to tackle the pressing global challenge. They were participating in the two-day Local Conference of Youth Hong Kong (LCOY HK) 2021 from 26 to 27 February 2022. The theme of LCOY HK 2021 is ‘Be a Climate Justice Youth Leader’.
LCOY HK 2021 is co-organised by CarbonCare InnoLab (CCIL), Network of Environmental Student Societies (NESS) and Hong Kong Youth for Climate Action (HKYCA) and sponsored by Hang Seng Bank, supported by Breakthrough Youth Village, and accredited by United Nations YOUNGO, the official youth constituency of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is one of the climate education initiatives under the ‘Hang Seng Low Carbon Future - SolarCare Programme’.
Following the successful participation of six Hong Kong youths in the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP26, held in Glasgow last November as part of CCIL’s NGO delegation, LCOY HK 2021 provided an invaluable opportunity for a larger number of local young people to learn more about the importance of ensuring climate justice in actions to respond to climate change and to better envision what sustainable cities of the future might look like.
The Hong Kong Government’s Climate Action Plan 2050 sets out a roadmap for making the city carbon neutral by 2050. The success of this plan will depend on the concerted efforts of the entire community, including younger generations.
Speaking at the opening ceremony on Saturday, Wong Kam-sing, GBS, JP, Secretary for the Environment, said “I encourage everyone, including youth, to collaborate in encountering and dealing with the challenges stemming from climate change. With joint effort and dedication, we could make a difference and turn crises into opportunities. To promote decarbonization, we can start with encouraging and supporting families and friends to engage in climate actions. Strive for carbon neutrality together, and don’t be a Big Waster in your daily life.”
May Wong, Head of Communications and Corporate Sustainability at Hang Seng, said: “Hang Seng aspires to help create a sustainable future for our city and our future generations. Inspiring young people and encouraging them to take their future in their own hands is key to making this happen. In 2021, we devoted about one-quarter of our HK$31 million community investment budget to supporting youth climate education and renewable energy development in Hong Kong. Through our support of LCOY HK, we hope local youngsters will gain more insight into sustainability, facilitating collective efforts and sparking new ideas for tackling climate change.”
Natalie Chung, young environmentalist and member at the Council for Sustainable Development and the Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee of the HKSAR, said: “We are at a critical time for action in the Anthropocene, where the world is in great demand of innovative solutions to enable technological, social and political transformations. Thank you CCIL for gathering passionate youths in Hong Kong for capacity building in face of humanity's collective climate crisis. I am confident that participants can develop toolkits for climate advocacy and policymaking through LCOY, connect with the international youth community to brainstorm solutions for our sustainable future. Hope everyone can make the most out of this immersive learning experience, and feedback concrete policy proposals to the government to progress our carbon neutrality target.”
Chong Chan-yau, Co-founder and CEO at CCIL, said: “The climate crisis is a global crisis that is having a disproportionately higher adverse impact on poor and vulnerable communities. Hong Kong is a wealthy city and should therefore bear a relatively higher responsibility for taking action. CCIL will nurture Hong Kong youths to be good global citizens who are enthusiastic to make a positive difference.”
What is Climate Justice & Local Youth Sharing: Link between Local and Global Climate Action
After the Graduation Ceremony, Blaire Ho and Natalie Sum, Programme Officer and Senior Programme Officer of CCIL explained the definition of climate justice, the issues of climate justice in Hong Kong and the EnergyCare Community Action - Kwai Chung project. Next, Carly Leung, a student of Climate Advocacy Training for Youth and co-founder of Asaqua, shared her entrepreneurship in Uganda, Africa. Through onsite visits and conversations with local people, she found that the water scarcity issue is acute to local people. The local people spend two to three hours a day looking for water sources, and also expose themselves to the threats of climate change. At the same time, they are encountering water pollution issues. Therefore, she designed a collapsible water tank after graduation, aiming to help people in underdeveloped areas collect rainwater for drinking, saving from traveling long distances every day to find water sources. She also encouraged young people to be more creative and proactive to initiate their own climate action.
International Youth Sharing: Climate Justice and Adaptation
We invited six international climate activists to share the climate challenges they have faced, and their successes in pushing for positive action and greater commitment from key decision-makers on climate-related issues. They are from Hawaii, the Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands and Hong Kong where are highly threatened by climate crisis. Mitzi from Singapore also encouraged participants to promote climate justice by love. We hold all of the stakeholders accountable by love, and also encounter the hurdles and never quit by love.
On the second day, there were in-parallel plenary sessions which were (1) Introduction to Climate Change & Disaster Preparedness, (2) Local Climate Youth Movement and (3) Climate Advocacy through Social Media & Persuasive Speaking and Presentation.
Introduction to Climate Change & Disaster Preparedness
Blaire first introduced climate change and its impact, then Kevin Li, Researcher of CCIL, shared Hong Kong's climate policies. We also invited the Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute to share with the participants the definition of a disaster and how to respond and adapt to the disaster.
Local Youth Climate Movement
CCIL Community Climate Advocacy Group Climate Sense and Climate Advocacy Group Climate Household first shared with participants how to initiate climate action and initiatives on climate change education and climate change adaptation. Priscilla Lin, a member of Solmunity and Natalie Chung, shared how to promote climate action by building a network and also encouraged young people to take the first step.
Climate Advocacy through Social Media & Persuasive Speaking and Presentation Skills
Kylie Lai, project officer of CCIL, shared how to promote climate initiatives through social media by brainstorming, design, and composition skills. We also invited a journalist to share the techniques of persuasive speaking and lobbying. She expounded how to do a persuasive speech by outlining the gist and key messages, identifying the background of the audience and managing facial expression and body language.
How Corporates Embrace Sustainability and the Career Opportunities Within
In response to the growing interest in sustainability-related careers among young people, Hang Seng hosted a panel discussion on green careers and the role of corporations in driving greater sustainability and the transition to a low-carbon economy. Kwok Kwong Wong, Head of ESG, Hang Seng Bank, Kent Shi, Co-founder, Carbon Zero New Energy Limited and King Lai, CFO and Group Director, Leo Paper Group, shared their insights and answered participants' questions during the session.
COP26 Sharing
Hong Kong’s COP26 delegates also shared their Glasgow conference experiences. They shared their experiences of interacting with youth representatives from various countries, giving speeches on behalf of youth, meeting with national representatives and presenting their ideas on climate issues. The participants were actively engaged in this and asked questions enthusiastically.
Position Paper Writing
Participants composed position papers on various climate issues within 2 days, including suggesting new, ambitious, and concrete climate actions that could be implemented in Hong Kong. In the last session, participants present their position paper and opinions on climate change issues and policies in Hong Kong. The papers will be documented and submitted to UN YOUNGO as part of the global youth climate positioning at the 17th United Nations Conference of Youth and the 2022 Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 2022. Participants were divided into 10 groups to provide suggestions on 9 topic which are shown below.
(1) Action for Climate Empowerment: The government should formulate minimum hours and curriculum guidelines for teaching climate change and global warming issues in primary and middle school classes to strengthen climate education beyond sustainable development and sustainable development. The government can increase the interaction on social platforms regarding environmental issues. Regarding the Environment and Conservation Fund, while simplifying administrative procedures, the government should increase the amount of funding and the scope of recipients, so as to promote the development and participation rate of green schools.
(2) Adaptation: The government should government expand its shelter capacity in each district for residents to move to during the months of June-September. Second, the government can provide funding for house owners to renew their building, including using insulation materials like paint with a high reflective rate, installing rooftop solar panels and farming systems, and arranging more vertical greening plants. Third, the government can improve warning systems and formulate a comprehensive response plan for extreme weather. Fourth, governments should teach climate change adaptation issues.
(3) Cities (Group 1): The government should review and improve Hong Kong’s planning standards and guidelines, and adopt mandatory or statutory requirements. At the same time, it should formulate detailed urban greening strategies and set up an inter-departmental committee to investigate and study the urban heat island effect countermeasures.
(4) Cities (Group 2): The government should make roof greening a requirement for new buildings. Apart from private buildings, the government can also take the initiative to conduct greening in public buildings such as public housing estates. Finally, in order to deal with the problem of unbalanced development of open space, it is suggested to regulate the ratio of open space to the redevelopment area.
(5) Ecological conservation: The government should reduce land reclamation, develop rural borders and wetlands to pursue sustainable development, and update habitat data for further research.
(6) Finance: The government should promote the establishment of a unified carbon market in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and expand the local carbon market to extend the carbon market to the individual level.
(7) Food: The Government should increase the total funding for the Sustainable Development Fund to $500 million so that different schemes to solve the problems in Hong Kong can flourish. Second, the government can expand the scale of the current smart recycling promotion plan to public housing estates, so as to reduce the average recycling cost, maximize the effect, and at the same time build up residents' awareness of environmental protection. Third, the government should encourage retailers and hypermarkets to participate in the recycling of leftovers andfood waste, and encourage them to train frontline staff and raise awareness to change habits. Finally, it is suggested to strengthen manpower at the Siu Ho Wan Food Waste Factory to speed up the recycling process.
(8) Human rights: The government should integrate the topics on climate change under the civic education curriculum, such as climate change mitigation and potential solutions.
(9) Renewable energy: The government should vigorously support the development of renewable energy such as hydropower and waste-to-energy, and implement carbon emission reduction policies. Second, it is recommended to increase public participation and consultation on renewable energy. Third, governments can issue green bonds to obtain funding.
(10) Women and Gender: The Government needs to conduct a comprehensive review of the existing support services for carers (women) and set up dedicated carer support services to take care of their physical and mental needs. Second, the government can increase and improve accommodation, day training services, community care services, and respite services for persons with disabilities to relieve the pressure on care
At last, Mr. Chong Chan Yau encouraged that participants, regardless of their background and occupations, can work together to combat climate change, promote climate action, and make a difference in Hong Kong.