The COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic and social life worldwide. Launched ahead of COP 26, “Race to Zero” is a global campaign to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions and investors for a healthy, resilient, zero-carbon recovery. It would be irresponsible for policy-makers to take action on economic recovery without taking into account the climate emergency, which will in all likelihood produce more severe and lasting impacts than the pandemic.
In this issue, we propose five top agendas for the Hong Kong SAR Government to consider acting upon in order to achieve three key objectives simultaneously: achieving the greatest impact in carbon reduction, winning public support and creating the best opportunities for post-pandemic recovery. These five agendas involve the building of community solar farms and utility-scale wind farms, tightening energy efficiency compliance for buildings, creating zero-emission bus fleets and the launching of a new EV car-only sharing scheme.