Climate Blog
2023-11-30
CLP and HK Electric's Next 5-Year Plans Fall Short of Hong Kong's Renewable Energy Goals
On November 27, CLP and HK Electric presented their 2024-2028 development plans to the Legislative Council's Panel on Environmental Affairs. As Hong Kong's largest greenhouse gas emitters, CarbonCare InnoLab is concerned whether they are accelerating investments into renewable energies like solar and wind. While the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) is underway in the UAE, with global attention on political and business leaders to phase out fossil fuels, CLP and HK Electric's next 5-year plans have shelved renewable energy investments. Their previously announced offshore wind projects remain castles in the air. Moreover, the plans still focus on expanding natural gas units, erroneously viewing natural gas as clean energy. This contradicts the global consensus on achieving net zero emissions and makes it unlikely to meet Hong Kong's 2035 renewable energy target in the Climate Action Plan 2050 or the 2050 carbon neutrality pledge.
In fact, research by the International Renewable Energy Agency shows global renewable energy costs have fallen over 80% in the past decade due to massive national investments, and are now cheaper than fossil fuels. As a world leader in renewable energy development, mainland China recently pledged with the US and G20 members to double renewable energy capacity, demonstrating its renewable ambitions. In contrast, the Hong Kong SAR government and utilities' progress pales.
CarbonCare InnoLab believes the best response to COP28 is not expanding natural gas units or relying on zero-carbon imports from mainland China. Instead, CLP and HK Electric should prioritize developing local renewables by delivering offshore wind projects and aggressively deploying solar installations in the next five years, to quickly raise Hong Kong's renewable share in the energy mix.
With climate catastrophes unfolding and the window to limit warming to 1.5°C closing, accelerated action in coming years is critical to turn the tide. The Hong Kong SAR government and utilities must act swiftly to boost renewable energy investments, to put Hong Kong on track to halve emissions by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.