Joint climate change exhibition launched

The "Climate is changing, act now!" exhibition jointly organised by the Hong Kong Observatory, the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau, the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd, was launched today (December 16). The exhibition will be open to the public until December 28 at the Ground Plaza, HSBC Main Building, 1 Queen's Road Central.

The Director of the Macao Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau, Dr Fong Soi-kun; the Acting Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Dr Lee Boon-ying; the Deputy Counsel-Director of the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau, Mr Zhu Hui-ming; and the Head of Corporate Sustainability, Asia-Pacific Region, of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, Ms Teresa Au Pui-yee, officiated at the opening ceremony.

It is the first time that meteorological services in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have jointly staged an exhibition. The exhibition will also travel to Guangdong and Macao in 2009, signifying a milestone in the co-operation of the three meteorological services in promoting public education on climate change.

Global warming is unequivocal and climate change has been a hot topic of discussion in recent years. Through the exhibits, the organisers aim to enhance the public's understanding of the causes of climate change, its impact and the available options to mitigate its effects.

"The Observatory has been actively promoting public understanding and awareness of climate change in recent years," Dr Lee said. "Apart from publicity in the media, this is also done by partnering with non-governmental organisations and different stakeholders to broaden the reach of its publicity programme on climate change."

"The Observatory will continue to promote public understanding on the subject and encourage people to participate in reducing climate change. We will actively engage with various sectors of the society to consolidate our public outreach campaigns."

Highlighting the significance of the exhibition, Dr Fong said, "The meteorological community alone cannot effectively reduce climate change. We need active involvement of the industrial and commercial sectors, and above all, the public. We should make a concerted effort to reduce energy consumption and reduce emissions to stabilise greenhouse gas concentration at a safe level."

Mr Zhu said that according to the "China National Plan for Coping with Climate Change", one of the important tasks of the meteorological department was to promote and popularise the science of climate change. "In this connection, the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau has, in recent years, compiled and disseminated the `Assessment Report on Climate Change of Guangdong' to different ranks of management and related departments. It has also produced publicity videos on reducing climate change, and mobilised experts to give talks to schools and in municipalities."

He said that combatting climate change required extensive public participation. "We will enhance the co-operation with different sectors of the community in further promoting public education and informing the public and policymakers about the realities of climate change, its impact on sustainability of the economy and urgent mitigating action in everyday life."

This is also the first time that the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd has co-organised a major climate change exhibition with meteorological departments. Ms Au said, "The success of this exhibition and the pioneering partnership between the four organisations in the Pearl River Delta Region acknowledge the importance of cross-border and cross-sector efforts in taking forward action in mitigating climate change."

"The exhibition aims to be a driver for change, this is part of our wider goal to facilitate a shift to a greener lifestyle. HSBC strongly encourages the public to see the exhibition, get inspired and show their commitment to adopt a greener lifestyle to deliver a more sustainable future for their next generation."

In this exhibition, the organisers also call on people to use less gift wrapping during the Christmas and Lunar New Year periods in particular. Manufacturing this wrapping paper uses a lot of trees and fuel. Gift wrapping not only produces waste but its disposal and treatment also requires extra resources, releasing a lot of carbon dioxide and exacerbating the greenhouse effect. As a token of encouragement, the organisers are giving out "Say No to Wrapping Paper" gift stickers which visitors can put on gifts instead of wrapping them.

People are invited to visit the exhibition and admission is free.

Opening hours :

December 16-28:
Weekdays: 11am to 8pm
Saturday, Sunday & public holidays: 10am to 6pm


For details, please visit :
http://www.weather.gov.hk/en/climate_change/act_now_exhibition2008/exhibition.htm