A third of Hong Kong government offices consumed more energy in the last financial year than they did half a decade ago, a study has found, although authorities have said they are on track to meet their performance target.
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The findings sparked calls from environmental groups for greater transparency and accountability, as they urged the government to disclose power usage data and explain the increases in energy consumption.
“The energy consumption of government [office] buildings has been increasing,” said Steven Chan Wing-kit, an assistant environmental affairs manager at The Green Earth, the NGO that conducted the study.
“Authorities should explain the uptick in energy consumption and be mandated to implement energy management opportunities, with the progress disclosed to the public.”
More than half of Hong Kong’s carbon emissions are attributable to electricity generated for buildings. The government in 2022 set a target to improve the overall energy performance of its buildings and infrastructure by more than 6 per cent in 2024-25 compared with 2018-19.
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The NGO’s study, using data obtained from authorities, found a third of government office buildings had higher energy use in 2023-24 compared with five years ago.