Hong Kong is expected to play a leading role in driving efforts in the Greater Bay Area to make buildings more energy efficient and mitigate flood risks arising from climate change, it was revealed today.
Collaboration to achieve both goals will be spearheaded by organisations based in the city, according to the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.
"Hong Kong will lead the water risks and green building initiatives," said Ma Jun, chairman of the association, on the sidelines of its annual forum in the city on Monday.
"We are contemplating launching a green finance alliance for the GBA early next year. Some of the administrative regions in the GBA have each proposed one or two projects for collaboration.
"The GBA is probably the most open area [in China] in terms of economic management, as well as capital account management ... this makes it the most interesting [place to] experiment on how to advance green finance in China."
The initiative to prevent floods will be spearheaded by Hong Kong-based China Water Risk, an organisation that has conducted in-depth research on the nation's water shortage and pollution risks for nearly a decade.
Storm tides caused by the worst typhoons could swamp large swathes of Central in Hong Kong and disrupt four of the GBA's seven airports and 43 of its 50 ports by 2030 as sea levels rise by an estimated 23 centimetres, China Water Risk director, Debra Tan, warned.
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The green building initiative will be led by the association's deputy secretary general Tracy Wong, a former JP Morgan banker, who will work with Civic Exchange, a Hong Kong-based think tank.
"Initially the work will be more policy driven as the [stakeholders] need to set [compliance] standards and decide on time tables on implementation," Ma said.
Besides the sustainable buildings and water initiatives, driven by Hong Kong, Guangzhou has initiated a "green manufacturing supply-chain" project, while Shenzhen has proposed leading a solid waste treatment project that aims to centralise treatment in the region to cut costs and increase efficiency.
"Each initiative will be led either by a financial firm, a company or a non-government organisation " they will be the chair of a working group which will consist of members from all the regions to make sure it benefits the entire GBA," said Ma.
He is also chairman of the green finance committee under the People's Bank of China and a special adviser to the central bank's governor.