A government-funded forum on ship emissions is due to take place later this year in
Hong Kong.
Funded by the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Environment Conservation Fund, the forum will bring together scientists, government officials, business leaders and academics from around the world to discuss reducing vessel emissions in the Hong Kong-Pearl River Delta (HK-PRD) region [pictured] and around the world.
18 leading shipping lines are already calling for regulation in HK-PRD through
The Fair Winds Charter, a voluntary agreement to use cleaner fuel while at berth in Hong Kong. At the same time, Guangdong and Hong Kong governments have released several policy documents over the last three years indicating that reducing vessel emissions – from local craft as well as ocean-going vessels – deserves attention.
Topics to be discussed at the event include:
- Recent science behind the effect of emissions on the health of people in the port of Hong Kong,
- Latest findings from the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) Hong Kong marine emissions inventory
- Hong Kong’s potential as regional sustainable shipping leader
Please find the full programme below.
Date: Saturday 12 November 2011
Time: 9:30am-12:30pm (registration from 9:00am)
Location: YMCA - 3/F South Tower, 41 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Language: With simultaneous interpretation in Cantonese and English
Event Programme:
09.00am - Registration
Session 1: Introduction
09.30am - Welcome by Civic Exchange
(Moderator by Christine Loh)
09.35am - Welcome by EPD
(By Environment Bureau)
09.45am - Hong Kong and shipping in context - Sector now in focus; scale; impact; global clean-up trends
(By Veronica Booth)
Session 2: What ships do, and what they can do
09.55am - Health impacts of emissions from ships - Recent science behind emissions’ effect on the health of people in port cities
(By Dr James Corbett)
10.10am - Extent of emissions from ships in Hong Kong - Findings from the EPD’s Hong Kong marine emissions inventory
(By Simon Ng)
10.25am - The Fair Winds Charter - Hong Kong’s voluntary at-berth fuel switch
(By HKLSA)
10.40am - Hong Kong’s potential as regional sustainable shipping leader
(By HKSOA)
10.55am - Morning Tea
11.15am - Response from Panel - Pia Berglund, European Maritime Safety Agency, Europe
(By TW Wong, USEPA, academics, and other air quality experts)
11.45am - Q&A
12.30pm - Thanks and Close
Biographies - Speakers and Panellists
Pia Berglund is Project Officer at the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA). She is currently working as Project Manager for Legal Aspects of Maritime Safety, Environmental Protection, Marine Environment, Training and Statistics at the EMSA in Lisbon. At EMSA, she works with questions relating to air pollution in general, but focusing specifically on sulphur related issues. Ms Berglund is seconded by the Government of Sweden, where she is employed at the Swedish Transport Agency and holds the post as Head of the International Liaison Unit at the Maritime Department. She has been active in negotiations for Sweden within the EU and IMO for more than 10 years. She holds a Master in Law.
Veronica Booth is Senior Project Manager at Civic Exchange. Since joining Civic Exchange in 2003, she has directed high-profile multi-stakeholder projects and worked on a range of issues ranging from sustainable urban development, air pollution its public health effects, and political reform and development in Hong Kong. Since 2007, Booth has been the principal investigator of Civic Exchange’s “Green Harbours” work, which included convening shipping stakeholders to draft the Fair Winds Charter. Booth holds an MA in political science.
Arthur Bowring is the Managing Director of the Hong Kong Shipowners Association and part time Maritime Arbitrator. He has a broad shipping background, which includes several years at sea as a deck officer, working as a ship surveyor for Lloyds Register, acting as an oil and dry cargo chartering and owning broker and freight trader for a major international trading house, handling marine insurance placing and claims and working as a consultant, handling investigative work, claims and project management. He is fellow and member of several professional associations and organisations.
James J. Corbett, P.E., Ph.D. conducts technology-policy research related to transportation, including groundbreaking research on air emissions from maritime transport, energy and environmental impacts of freight transportation, and assessment of technological and policy strategies for improving goods movement. Dr. Corbett is a Professor in the College of Earth Ocean and Environment with joint appointment in Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Delaware. He is a leading collaborator in a multi-university Sustainable Intermodal Freight Transportation Research program, an international research collaboration to improve the effective use of highway, waterway, railroad, and air transportation infrastructure. Dr. Corbett coauthored the first two global studies assessing health impacts from international shipping, including evaluation of the potential mitigation of emerging international policy reducing shipping emissions.
Tony YT Lee is Senior Environmental Protection Officer (Air Policy) for the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. With more than 10 years' experience in combating air pollution and being specialized in mobile source emission control, Mr Lee is now involved in developing policies and managing programmes on controlling air pollution from the marine sector.
Ms Christine Loh is the co-founder and CEO of Civic Exchange. She is an Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as well as a board member of various local and international companies and foundations, including the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange, Tällberg Foundation, East West Institute, and Community Business. She is actively engaged in numerous non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong relating to sustainability, urban planning and design, and human rights, including Clean Air Network and Society for Protection of the Harbour.
Simon K W Ng received his training as a geographer at the University of Hong Kong and the University of Cambridge, UK. He is now a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for the Environment of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and a Senior Research Fellow of Civic Exchange. Simon's works includes research and teaching on sustainable transportation, liveable cities, air quality issues, and local community planning. At present, he is taking a leading role in a number of studies on marine vessels emission in Hong Kong. He has been working closely with the industry, the government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to reduce ship and port emissions in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region.
Joanne Ooi co-founded Clean Air Network with other prominent environmentalists in July 2009. CAN has quickly become the fastest-growing environmental NGO in Hong Kong. In addition to conducting the biggest environmental campaign in Hong Kong's history, Ooi has spearheaded and innovated the use of social media in the NGO industry in Asia. Prior to CAN, Ooi was the Creative Director of Shanghai Tang. Largely credited with the turn-around of Shanghai Tang, Ooi has been profiled in the New York Times, Time Magazine, Good Morning America and appeared on the cover of Fast Company Magazine, among many other international media. Ooi graduated from Columbia University and has a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
Wong Tze Wai is an environmental epidemiologist and occupational physician at the School of Public Health and Primary care at the Chinese University of Hong Kong with experience in public health practice and research over a wide variety of topics that including environmental health (air pollution and health, and dioxins). He recently headed a study on the Air Pollution Reporting System commissioned by the Environmental Protection Department, and another on exposure to dioxins and other persistent organic pollutants among women in Hong Kong, commissioned by the Department of Health. His recent efforts are focused on air pollution control, and he has been a vocal advocate for the improvement of air quality in Hong Kong.
The event is free of charge, but registration is essential as spaces are limited. Please visit the event website for registration at: http://www.civic-exchange.org/wp/111112gh3/
