HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
香港立法局
19 July 1989
一九八九年七月十九日
109
MR. PAUL CHENG: Sir, I applaud the Government's move of waiving the usual public consultation exercise in the form of a Green Paper by going straight to the White Paper. Time is of essence on the environmental issue. It is like the game of tennis
- we are behind in the deciding set and unless we have the will and desire to win, we will lose the match. The first chapter of the White Paper rightly indicated "we now have to recover lost ground". Open-minded co- operation by all — the Administration, the public, the industrialists, the schools, the voluntary organizations, the special interest groups is essential if we are to win this battle. We are all working towards a common goal a cleaner, healthier and safer place for us and the generations which will follow. There is no room for compromise or we run the risk of forever playing a catch-up game.
Mag
This is not the forum for covering details. These are best handled by Environmental Protection Advisory Committee (EPCOM), OMELCO's Environmental Affairs Panel and other working groups with the new administrative structure. I will, therefore, limit my comments on broader issues.
The commitment is now in place. The Government must not hesitate in making bold moves. In a catch-up situation, all sectors must be willing to make sacrifices. The Administration must accept the fact that tougher legislation and enforcement will not be popular in certain circles, but it must not let lobbying pressures water down this new initiative.
In the recent 15th Economic Summit of the world's seven major industrial democracies, for the first time, the environmental issue was highlighted in the final communique. Let me just quote a few paragraphs to help emphasize my point. I quote: "Decisive action is urgently needed to understand and protect the Earth's ecological balance. We will work together to achieve the common goals of preserving a healthy and balanced global environment in order to meet shared economic and social objectives and to carry out obligations to future generations.....We believe that industry has a crucial role in preventing pollution at source, in waste minimization, in energy conservation and in the design and marketing of cost-effective clean technologies.....Therefore, environmental considerations must be taken into account in economic decision-making. In fact, good economic policies and good environmental policies are mutually reinforcing."
I have noted words such as "likely", "intended", "encourage", "voluntary" being used in the White Paper. I hope this is purely editorial style. I would have preferred to see more words such as "will" and "must". I trust in future planning, in programme implementation, in recommending new legislation and
No comments yet.
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