Ms. Mayling Chan
•
Independent consultant for Carboncare Asia
•
Former CEO of Friends of the Earth (HK)
•
East Asia Representative of Business & Human Rights Resource
Centre
•
Former Programme Director (HK, Mainland China, International) of
Oxfam Hong Kong
•
Lecturer at City University of Hong Kong on Development Planning
and Analysis in 2011
•
Recent publication:
Unfinished Puzzle, Cuban Agriculture: The Challenges, Lessons
and Opportunities (March, 2013, Food First, USA)
The Role of Civil Society in
Tackling Water Issues
Mayling Chan
Associate
Carboncare Asia
Summary
• Water issues defined by civil society
• Public participation, advocacy and
monitoring roles
• Business responsibilities
Water issues defined internationally
• 1992 - UN Conference on Environment and
Development in Rio de Janeiro
“scarcity and misuse of fresh water pose a serious and growing threat
to sustainable development and protection of the environment”
• 2003 - First People’s World Water – human rights and
social equity issues
“The human right to water…sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically
accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic uses”.
• UN - Water for Life 2005-2015- set millennium goals
Water issues defined across
our border…
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Trend of scarcity
Accessibility
Sanitation
Pollution and contamination
Water reform to respond to scarcity and quality
Anti-Dam
Social equity and justice issue
Transparency and information access…
HK Water Supply
Department
Local water issues are
¨ A matter of politics & management issue, in
particular, transport from mainland to HK.¨
Locally water issues defined by civil
society as…
• “Take-for-granted” in resource scarce
situation
• Dependency breeds public inertia
• Current water management is not sustainable
• Lacking regional perspective
• Feel powerless to influence the low bargaining
power of water agreement with mainland
• Lacking transparency and access to information
to water quality
• Ineffective education nor in-depth discussion
• Lacking information on water consumption
pattern/attitude of trade, services (32% of water use, 2011)
and industry sectors and appropriate CSR engagement
A serious waste issue related to water
PLASTIC WATER BOTTLE
•BACK TO WATER TAP is not a preferred option
due to poorly maintained plumbing
•Low water fee makes trade sustainable but not
our environment!
•Landfill dumping of plastic bottle!
Business responsibility???
The Service sector has +48 million tourists in 2012
- Restaurants: 48% water in dim sum restaurants
used in dish washing (School of Hotel and Tourism
Management, Polytechnic University research)
- Hotel: +400 litres per night per guest in business
hotel, compared higher than Japan and Australia
(Earthcheck Global Data, 2012)
- Touristic theme parks: such as Ocean Park,
Disneyland, require innovative integrated water
and waste water management
(Dept. of Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University)
Role of Civil Society
Think-tank, Academia
Media & NGO
Schools & Community
• Research & Survey on
policies, measures,
sustainability
• Advocacy on policies
and measures
• Monitoring water
quality
• Govt, NGO or school
led education
Public participation back in 1859!
Education, Monitoring & Advocacy
• Media and Greenpeace, et el: Serious and toxic
pollution at Dongjiang River
• Civic Exchange: Complex Sustainability issues in
the region and HK
• Open University: Algae emergence in local
reservoirs from time to time that implicates on
water quality
• FOE (HK): Sustainable and transparent water
management in the region
• Green Power & FOE: campaign on water
efficiency
• Water resource consultation group
What constrains Civil society-govtbusiness dialogue on water?
¨Uphill battle in convincing the society there is a
global water crisis and HK is no exception¨ dependency breeds public inertia
¨Hong Kong Government's publicity emphasizes
water stability, the concept of water conservation
in promotional materials is rather vague and
uninteresting.¨
More…
• Insufficient facts and data to study various
options for measures and policy
• Lack of in-depth and continuous discussion
on various aspects of short to long term
measures and their progress, two obvious
examples are: repair of system of water pipes
and Grey water recycling.
• Lack of targets of viable measures to conserve
and to increase supply of water resource
In need of more innovative awareness raising projects!
“瓶”水相逢
Polytechnic University
Sustainble Design
Course
sustainable water
strategy
THANK YOU!