MR YIU SI-WING (in Cantonese): President, as extreme weather continues to plague the world, news stories about abnormal weather conditions are frequent. Hong Kong certainly cannot be unaffected. In summer this year, the Hong Kong Observatory recorded 15 consecutive days with temperature reaching 33°C or above, and the temperature in the New Territories even went up to 38°C, which broke the record of hot weather since 1963. In September this year, super typhoon Mangkhut wreaked havoc at various places of Hong Kong, which I believe members of the public still remember vividly. I agree to the proposal in Mr Martin LIAO's original motion which urges the SAR Government to cope with climate change proactively and lead the public to transform Hong Kong into a green and low-carbon society.

From a macro perspective, Hong Kong must abide by the Paris Agreement entered into force in 2016 after negotiation by various State Parties, including China, and adopt various environmental protection measures to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. Foreign Minister WANG Yi said at the G20 Summit last month that China tackled climate change steadfastly and it would continue to move in the direction of green, low-carbon and sustainable development. As Hong Kong is part of our country and also an international city, the Government is, as proposed in the original motion and other Members' amendments, duty-bound to lead the environmental protection work and implement specific measures to reduce carbon emissions.

From a micro perspective, the current Government released in early 2017 Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2030+ formulated by the Steering Committee on Climate Change chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, outlining Hong Kong's longer-term action in combating climate change and setting out the carbon emission reduction target. The Policy Address this year clearly states that Hong Kong needs to draw up by 2020 our own long-term decarbonization strategy up to 2050, revealing the commitment of the Government to environmental protection. I hope that the Government can seriously achieve these targets.

Some 70% of greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong come from electricity generation, and electricity consumption of buildings accounts for 90% of Hong Kong's total electricity consumption. Shopping malls, commercial buildings and hotels abound in Hong Kong and these buildings turn on air conditioning for long periods of time. Some environmental groups had measured the air-conditioning temperatures in shopping malls and found that the temperatures of many malls were too low, particularly in summer. The lowest temperature recorded was 19°C, which was obviously lower than a comfortable temperature for the human body. For this reason, a feasible measure to reduce carbon emission is to cooperate with commercial organizations by signing an energy-saving charter, setting the reasonable indoor air-conditioning temperature at different time slots during the day and in different seasons, particularly the indoor temperature during non-peak hours. The authorities can also advise commercial organizations to follow the practice of the Airport Authority Hong Kong by gauging through various sensors the electricity consumption performances of big and small shopping malls and commercial buildings, or using a cloud-based smart energy management system for data collection, so as to formulate appropriate energy-saving measures based on the data collected. The Government can also make reference to the District Cooling System at the Kai Tak Development Area, and install similar cooling systems in certain new development areas, thereby reducing the electricity consumption of various electricity-consuming units through centralized cooling. We learn that such a system can reduce 20% to 30% of electricity consumption and is thus worth exploring.

President, I note that a number of Members have, in their amendments, mentioned the option of green transport, including developing green passageways in new development areas, and perfecting the policy on bicycles and electric vehicles. Of the total carbon emissions in Hong Kong, the overall transport system accounts for some 16%; and among which, emissions from buses, commercial vehicles and private cars account for 70%. According to the data for the past 10 years of the Environmental Protection Department, the air pollutant concentration, and the levels of respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen dioxide recorded at various air quality monitoring stations have been in a steady decline, mainly because the Government has in recent years tightened the standards of vehicle emissions and set up the Green Transport Fund to subsidize the use of low-emission commercial vehicles.

For this reason, I think that the Government should continue to create favourable conditions for green commuting and improve the policy on subsidizing electric vehicles. Apart from carrying on with the measures proven effective, it should review its policy on encouraging people to use electric vehicles, particularly electric private cars. In 2017, the SAR Government abolished the full waiver of the first registration tax for electric private cars and imposed a cap on the waiver at $97,500. The Budget this year continues with this tax concession and also introduces the new "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme, which provides a higher first registration tax concession for new electric private cars capped at $250,000. However, the two measures have met with lukewarm responses. Among the over 610 000 private cars registered from March to September this year, only 257 were electric private cars registered for the first time. The Transport Department only approved 268 applications under the "One-for-One Replacement" Scheme as at November. The Government needs to conduct a review to find out the reason for that. Is it because the subsidy is insufficient or are there any other reasons? Is it due to a lack of fast charging stations? I think the Government needs to review all these issues. Only when suitable measures are introduced will people be willing to switch to electric vehicles in the future. I hope that the Government will conduct proper reviews in this regard and avoid introducing ineffective new policies.