Controlling marine greenhouse gas emissions in Hong Kong: policy considerations

Maritime transport contributes to the exacerbation of global warming, which is responsible for several environmental issues. Since Hong Kong (HK) is recognized as one of the largest shipping registries in the world in terms of gross tonnage and its port is very busy, to examine the regulatory and policy measures adopted, and to discuss the need for introducing additional policy measures for controlling marine Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions in HK is both necessary and important. This article accordingly investigates the current policy and regulatory measures controlling marine GHG emissions in HK, and confirms that HK implements the relevant international treaties; HK has meanwhile been working together with mainland China, particularly with cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), to combat air pollution. This article also highlights the main problems and issues associated with HK’s existing measures, and then discusses the way forward. It concludes that the current measures in HK are far from satisfactory, and that there is an apparent need to improve them so as to more effectively control marine GHG emissions.