Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 Living Beyond Our Means CONTENTS

Foreword 1 WWF is one of the world’s largest and most Authors experienced independent conservation organizations, Global Footprint Network with almost 5 million supporters and a global network Executive Summary 2 active in over 100 countries. WWF’s mission is to stop Shiva Niazi the degradation of the planet’s natural environment Steven Goldfinger and to build a future in which humans live in harmony Introduction 3 with nature. Meredith Stechbart

Anders Reed WWF Hong Kong has been working since 1981 to Evidence Sarah Rizk ensure a better environment for present and future The Global Context: Humanity’s Ecological Footprint 4 generations in Hong Kong through the implementation of a wide range of focused conservation and The Ecological Footprint of the Asia-Pacific Region 6 environmental education programmes in Hong China’s Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity 7 Kong and southern China. Programmes include WWF Hong Kong Climate, Footprint, Terrestrial & Conservation Policy, Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity 8 Clarus Chu Freshwater & Wetlands and Marine. Andy Cornish

Turning the Tide Global Footprint Network is committed to fostering Monika Fung a world in which all people have the opportunity to The Global Development Challenge 10 Karen Ho live satisfying lives within the means of one planet. Paths for the Future 12 Our mission is to advance the use of the Ecological Agnes Tsang Footprint, a science-based sustainability tool that Hong Kong: Transformation to Sustainability 14 Laura Weeks measures how much of the Earth’s living resources we use, how much we have and who uses what. Our William Yu work seeks to make the planet’s ecological limits Data a central consideration at all levels of policy and Frequently Asked Questions 16 decision making.

Technical Notes 18

References 20

Acknowledgements 21

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 FOREWORD

The recent downturn in the global economy planet are accelerating. It is now forecasted efficiency and reducing consumption. developing a comprehensive energy strategy is a stark reminder of the consequences of that we would need the resources of two both on the supply and demand side whilst living beyond our means. But the possibility of Planet Earths by 2030. Apart from actions we can take within our also promoting efficient building design and economic recession pales in comparison to territory, Hong Kong can also affect change energy use, Hong Kong can make significant the looming ecological credit crunch. Every prudent person knows that you must through our regional reach: for example strides towards reducing our overall Footprint. preserve capital and live on the interest. If you through the way we operate our factories on We, the seven million people in Hong Kong, draw on capital, your capacity for generating the Mainland, or by insisting on environmental This Report also proposes solutions in the are somewhat distanced from the natural interest will diminish. Ultimately, if you keep standards in the companies we invest in or five main areas of Hong Kong’s Ecological resources on which our livelihoods depend. drawing on capital to fund an ever more lend to. Footprint and biocapacity, suggesting paths Some 40 percent of Hong Kong’s population excessive lifestyle, you will go broke. As with for a sustainable future. WWF is working with live above the 14th floor; many of us have not household economics, so with Earth’s natural This Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report the Hong Kong Government and leading Hong experienced first hand the wonder and beauty resources: It is an iron rule. 2008 will provide the benchmark to track Kong companies to reduce Footprint, cut of the natural world. However, everything we our shift in consumption and the size of our carbon emissions, and promote sustainability consume, and all our actions, as individuals Hong Kong will always be an “ecological Ecological Footprint. WWF Hong Kong will in other sectors, such as fisheries and forests. and collectively as a city, have an impact on debtor”, where we need more resources produce this report every two years, from the state of our planet’s natural resources. than our land and sea mass can sustain; we which trends can be identified and actions Sustainable development combines moral will always have an “Ecological Footprint” proposed. obligation with economic imperative. The main Our livelihoods, and indeed our lives, depend that extends beyond our territory. This puts message of this Report is that we are living on the services provided by the Earth’s us in a vulnerable position, since our food, We know where to start. The biggest beyond our means, and that the choices each natural systems, which include supplying us fuel, water and other resources must be contributor to Hong Kong’s Footprint is the of us makes today will shape the possibilities with fresh air, water and food, fiber and timber, imported, sometimes from far afield. As way in which we generate and use energy: for the generations which follow us. and recycling and absorbing our waste. The resource demand around the world continues climate-changing emissions now make up Living Planet Report 2008 tells us that we are to grow and resources become scarce, our 80 per cent of our overall footprint. Thus consuming the resources that underpin those dependency on external biocapacity poses by moving to a low carbon economy (as services much too fast – faster than they can considerable risk. We can reduce these recommended by the HKSAR Chief Executive Markus Shaw be replenished. And our demands on the risks by reducing our Footprint: by increasing in his 2008-2009 Policy Address), by Chairman, WWF Hong Kong

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

With growing global food shortages and price This report finds that: capacity, in the form of natural resources, (1) making changes that are relatively hikes, loss of cropland from salinization, • The Asia-Pacific region is home to more from other nations. In 2005, Hong Kong’s cheap, easy and fast, such as switching to depletion of overharvested fisheries, and than half of the world’s population, who net Footprint of import was 17.6 million energy efficient lighting, and (2) investing the impact of climate change on agricultural use more than 40 percent of the planet’s global hectares, 58 percent of its total in infrastructure that will maximize well- productivity, it is clear that human wellbeing is available biological capacity. Footprint. This is approximately equal to the being while minimizing future demand for not separable from ecological health. Human biological capacity of Ireland. An additional resources. • Focusing on individual lifestyle, Hong economies and endeavours, in order to make 39 percent of Hong Kong’s Footprint comes Kong’s Ecological Footprint in 2005 was • Government, companies and individuals all lasting progress, must take into account the from carbon dioxide that is emitted to the 4.4 global hectares per person. This is have important roles to play in Hong Kong’s reality of ecological constraints. This means atmosphere from within its own borders. more than double the 2.1 global hectares movement towards sustainability. knowing both human’s demand for ecological of biocapacity available per person on the • Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint is resources, and the Earth’s ability to meet this • Carbon emissions and overfishing planet. connected through trade relations to demand. contribute significantly to Hong Kong’s many countries around the world. Hong • Hong Kong’s per capita Ecological Footprint unsustainable levels of consumption. These The Ecological Footprint is a resource Kong’s primary trade partner is its home in 2005 ranked as the 29th highest when can be addressed in many ways, including accounting tool that makes this measurement country of China. An analysis of selected compared to the Footprints of the 150 regulations, efficient improvements and possible. This report discusses Hong Kong traded products suggests that Hong countries in the world with populations careful sourcing. SAR’s current Ecological Footprint within both Kong imports metals, minerals, food and greater than one million. An average Hong a global and regional context. It also builds on plastic products from countries such as Kong resident’s Footprint was more than the CCICED–WWF Report on the Ecological Japan, Korea and the United States and twice as large as the 2.1 global hectares Footprint in China that was released earlier exports manufactured products, electrical average in the rest of China. in 2008. However, the Hong Kong results machinery and metals. reported here are based on more recent • Hong Kong’s consumption requires more • Three factors determine the size of Hong data and reflect a number of improvements than 250 times the biological capacity of Kong’s total Ecological Footprint: its in the Ecological Footprint methodology (see its land and sea area. More than three- population, consumption per person, and Technical Notes). quarters of Hong Kong’s Footprint comes the resource- and waste-intensity of the from carbon dioxide emissions from the use As competition over limited ecosystem goods and services consumed. of fossil fuels. resources and services increases, how can • Two complementary approaches for Hong Kong maintain a robust economy and • Hong Kong covers its significant ecological reducing Hong Kong’s ecological deficit that the well-being of its population? deficit in part by importing biological can be pursued in parallel are

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 INTRODUCTION IN TR O

In the last century, it was generally assumed regenerative capacity with the available In responding to this new reality, what Hong Kong’s demand on natural capital, DU that global economic growth is limited only supply. It does this by summing the area of strategies will governments adopt when placing it in a regional and global context. It C by human innovation, with the finite nature cropland, grazing land, forest and fishing confronting ecological limits? How will global then looks at various strategies Hong Kong T ION of the planet’s resources rarely considered. grounds required to produce the food, fibre trends in resource availability shape markets might consider to help reduce overshoot, while However, with a two-fold increase in and timber humanity consumes, to absorb and financial centers? What decisions will maintaining its future economic health and the world population and five-fold increase the waste emitted when it uses energy, and individuals make to ensure resources will be well-being of its citizens. in energy consumption over the past 40 to provide space for infrastructure. It allows available for their children and grandchildren? years, ecological limits have become more decision makers at any scale to understand obvious as they increasingly determine which how much capacity they and others are using, With more than 50 percent of the globe’s human endeavors will succeed. Many of the where this capacity is located, and if it is population and approximately 20 percent of challenges the world is facing, from climate sufficient to meet these demands. its biological capacity, what the Asia-Pacific change and food shortages to large-scale region decides to do will play a crucial role Figure 1: Humanity’s Ecological Footprint. ecosystem collapse, can only be addressed By 2005, with the growth in world population in determining humanity’s future. China’s Human consumption has grown over the last 40 by making ecological limits a central and individual consumption, humanity was demand on the Earth’s biological capacity is years, with global demand for biological capacity exceeding supply by 30 percent. consideration in the decisions society makes using resources 30 percent faster than the already on par with that of the United States. both individually and collectively. planet could regenerate them (Figure 1). This Hong Kong, a major Chinese city and financial Figure 2: Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint. global overshoot means that humanity is capital with relatively little productive area, The residents of Hong Kong use more than 250 times the biocapacity of Hong Kong’s own The Ecological Footprint is a resource depleting and degrading the biological capital is currently using approximately 250 times ecosystems. In 2005, Hong Kong had a Footprint accounting tool that can reveal these limits on which its economy depends. its own biological capacity (Figure 2). Using of 30.2 million global hectares and a biocapacity by comparing human demand on the Earth’s the Ecological Footprint, this report analyzes of only 117 thousand global hectares.

Figure 1: ratio of Humanity’s Ecological Footprint to Global Biocapacity, Figure 2: ratio of Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint to its Biocapacity, 1961-2005 1961 - 2005

1.4 350

1.2 300

1.0 250

0.8 200 Ecological Footprint Ecological Footprint 0.6 Biocapacity 150 Biocapacity (equal to one Hong Kong) 0.4 100 Number of Hong Kongs 0.2 50

0.0 0 Ecological Footprint (number of planet Earths) 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 1961 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 2005

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 THE GLOBAL CONTEXT: HUMANITY’S ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT

The Ecological Footprint is a widely used This demand on nature can be compared measure of humanity’s demand on nature. A to the planet’s biocapacity, the amount of Figure 3: ecological FOOTPRINT PER PERSON, by country, 2005 nation’s Ecological Footprint is the sum of the biologically productive area—cropland, land and sea area used to provide the food, grazing land, forest, fishing grounds, land 10 fibre and timber resources it consumes, to for carbon dioxide uptake—available to

Built-up Land Forest Land absorb the waste it emits, and to locate its meet human demand. In 2005, the planet’s Carbon Uptake Land Grazing Land infrastructure. Because people use resources total biocapacity was 13.4 billion global 9 Fishing Ground Cropland and ecological services from all around the hectares, or 2.1 global hectares per person. world, the area required to provide them, Demand therefore exceeded supply by 0.6 regardless of where it is located, is included in global hectares per person. This 30 percent 8 the Ecological Footprint. overshoot meant that it took the Earth almost a year and 4 months to regenerate the

7 In 2005, the global Ecological Footprint was resources humanity used in 2005. 17.4 billion global hectares, or 2.7 global hectares per person (a global hectare is a The average Footprint varies significantly by

6 hectare with world-average productivity). region and country. Many of the countries with the largest per person Footprints are found in North America and Western Europe. 5

4 Global hectares per person

In 2005 the globally available biocapacity was 2.1 hectares per person 2

1 Iran Iraq Mali Italy Haiti Peru Laos India Togo Syria Chile Libya Cuba Chad Niger Israel Brazil Egypt Spain Benin Nepal Latvia Oman Japan Kenya Sudan Eritrea Bolivia Congo Kuwait Liberia Ghana Gabon Turkey Russia Ireland Jordan Yemen Malawi China Austria France Algeria Poland Angola World Mexico Nigeria Bhutan Tunisia Croatia Guinea Greece Finland Zambia Estonia Albania Norway Belarus Ukraine Burundi Gambia Canada Uganda Georgia Lesotho Belgium Somalia Sweden Ethiopia Vietnam Namibia Bulgaria Rwanda Senegal Armenia Jamaica Portugal Panama Ecuador Uruguay Hungary Slovakia Morocco Pakistan Slovenia Thailand Australia Lebanon Malaysia Romania Tanzania Denmark Mauritius Mongolia Lithuania Germany Tajikistan Myanmar Colombia Sri Lanka Paraguay Argentina Honduras Indonesia Botswana Nicaragua Cambodia Swaziland Singapore Zimbabwe Mauritania Cameroon Venezuela Azerbaijan Philippines Costa Rica Guatemala Macedonia Kyrgyzstan Uzbekistan El Salvador Switzerland Kazakhstan Afghanistan Bangladesh Netherlands Africa South Madagascar Saudi Arabia Saudi Korea DPRP Mozambique Sierra Leone Côte D`ivoire Burkina Faso New Zealand Hong Kong Turkmenistan Guinea-Bissau Korea Republic Czech Republic United Kingdom Congo Dem Rep Moldova Republic Central African Rep Central Papua New Guinea Dominican Republic Bosnia Herzegovina Trinidad and Tobago and Trinidad United Arab Emirates United Serbia and Montenegro United States of America United States of

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 Hong Kong SAR’s Ecological Footprint in Figure 4: TOTAL ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT, FOR HIGH, MIDDLE AND LOW-INCOME Figure 4: Ecological Footprint by income 2005 was 4.4 global hectares per person, COUNTRIES, 1961-2005 group, over time. The average demand per person in high-income nations has nearly giving Hong Kong the 29th highest Footprint doubled, while the Ecological Footprint in middle when compared to 150 nations that year. For and low-income nations has remained relatively 10 Hong Kong and many high-income nations, 7.0 steady.

Built-up Land Forest Land the area required to absorb carbon emissions 6.0 Carbon Uptake Land Grazing Land comprises the majority of their Ecological 9 Fishing Ground Cropland Footprint. 5.0

High-income countries 8 4.0 Middle-income countries EVIDENCE Low-income countries 3.0 Figure 3: Ecological Footprint per person, by 7 country, by land type. 150 nations, the world, 2.0

and Hong Kong are shown with their Ecological Global hectares per person Footprint divided into major land types. For most 1.0 6 high-income nations, the largest portion of the Footprint comes from carbon dioxide emissions; 0 for low-income nations, from cropland. 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

4 Global hectares per person

In 2005 the globally available biocapacity was 2.1 hectares per person 2

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION

Compared to other regions of the world, 53 percent of world population. Although the Kong uses 4.4 global hectares of the planet’s within the region and second, by importing the Asia-Pacific region has a relatively low regions’ productive capacity has grown over biocapacity. resources and using the biological capacity of Ecological Footprint per person (Figure 5). the past 40 years, particularly through the other countries and the global commons. The large population of the region, however, green revolution and overall economic growth, China and India make up 68 percent of gives it the largest total Ecological Footprint demand for ecological services has simply the Asia-Pacific regional population and in the world. On a global scale, the Asia- outstripped supply. 66 percent of its total Footprint. While the Pacific region contains 55 percent of the Footprint per person of both nations is well world population and demands 43 percent While the region as a whole has entered below the global average, both are operating Figure 5: Ecological Footprint by region. Although North America has the highest Footprint of the total biological capacity of the planet ecological deficit, there is large variation in the with Footprints twice their own biocapacities. per person, the large population of the Asia- (Figure 6). magnitude of the Footprint within the Asia- Pacific region gives Asia-Pacific the largest total Pacific region. While the average Australian How is it possible for the majority of a region Ecological Footprint of all global regions. The Ecological Footprint of the Asia-Pacific lives on 7.8 global hectares with an ecological to be living on more resources than they have Figure 6: Asia-Pacific’s use of world region is now twice as large as its own reserve of 7.6 global hectares, the average within their borders? The Asia-Pacific region biocapacity. The Asia-Pacific region’s biological capacity. For comparison, in 1961, Bangladeshi uses only 0.6 global hectares but as a whole compensates for its ecological population and Ecological Footprint continue to the region’s total Footprint was only 14 lives with an ecological deficit of 0.3 global deficit of 2.8 billion global hectares in two grow. In 2005, the region’s aggregate Footprint percent of world biocapacity despite having hectares. The average resident of Hong ways: first, by liquidating the biological capital had nearly tripled since 1961.

Figure 5: ecological FOOTPRINT by region, 1961-2005 Figure 6: ASIA PACIFIC’S USE OF WORLD BIOCAPACITY, 1961-2005

10 North America 60%

9 Europe (EU) Europe (Non-EU) 50% 8 Middle East and Central Asia 7 Latin America and the Caribbean 40% 6 Asia-Pacific

5 Africa 30% 4 20% 3 2005 world average biocapacity per person; 2.1 global hectares Asia Pacific share of world population Percentage of total 2 10% Asia Pacific use of world biocapacity

Global hectares per person 1

0 0% 330 487 240 553 366 3,562 902 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 Population (in millions)

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 CHINA’S ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND BIOCAPACITY

The story of China over the past 40 years makes up nearly half of the Asia-Pacific of cropland biocapacity. China that year still Figure 7: China’s use of world biocapacity, is the story of growth. From 1961 to 2005, region’s overall forest biocapacity. had ecological reserves in forest and fishing 1961-2005. China began demanding more China’s population doubled as did its per ground, but these reserves are generally capacity than its own ecosystems could support person Ecological Footprint, and China’s total Sustainability requires that demand remain shrinking over time. A small reserve in grazing in the late 1960s. The nation’s Footprint is now Footprint increased by a factor of four. China within the regenerative capacity of nature. land biocapacity in previous years became a more than twice its biocapacity. and the United States each used 21 percent If any country uses more than its own deficit in 2005. of global biocapacity in 2005, more than any ecosystems can provide, it runs an ecological Table 1: China’s total Ecological Footprint other country. deficit. This deficit is only made possible The most significant change over this time and biocapacity by land type, 2005. China by relying on biological capacity from other has been the rapid increase in China’s carbon had an ecological deficit in all but two land types,

With its high demand, China is fortunate to nations via imports or via emissions to Footprint. This parallels a rapid increase of forest and fishing ground. Total biocapacity of EVIDENCE have considerable biocapacity within its own the global commons, or by overharvesting almost 22-fold in overall energy consumption the five land types shown in the table comprises borders. China has substantial amounts of ecosystems that lie within a country’s own in China over the past 40 years. Per person, the entire productive area of the world; thus land cropland biocapacity, ranking fourth among borders. since 1971, China’s carbon dioxide emissions which uptakes carbon is accounted for in other nations for most cropland biocapacity and have increased more than five-fold. Given biocapacity totals. outstripping the cropland biocapacity of the Since the early 1970s, China has run an China’s relatively high carbon emissions per EU by 647 million global hectares. Its grazing ecological deficit. Its deficit in cropland has kilowatt of electricity production, reducing land biocapacity is 2.3 times that of the narrowed, but in 2005 China still imported these emissions will be an important step United States and China’s forest biocapacity an equivalent of 541 million global hectares towards shrinking China’s ecological deficit.

Figure 7: cHINA’S USE OF WORLD BIOCAPACITY, 1961-2005 Table 1: cHina’s Total Ecological Footprint and Biocapacity per land type, 2005

Land types Total Ecological Footprint Total Biocapacity 3,000 (millions of gha) (millions of gha) Ecological debt Cropland 737.0 521.0 2,500 Ecological reserve Grazing land 199.0 197.0 2,000 Ecological Footprint Forest 165.0 215.0 1,500 Carbon uptake land 1,500.0 —

1,000 Built-up land 99.0 99.0

Global hectares (millions) Biocapacity 500 Fishing ground 87.4 101.0

0 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Total 2,790.0 1,133.0

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 HONG KONG’S ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND BIOCAPACITY

At 4.4 global hectares per person, Hong lived like an average Hong Kong resident, it Footprint (Table 2). An additional 39 percent of its residents. As resource demand around Kong’s average Ecological Footprint is nearly would require a little more than two Earths of Hong Kong’s Footprint comes from carbon the world continues to grow and resources twice that of the rest of China. It is comparable to provide the resources being used and to dioxide that is emitted to the atmosphere from become increasingly scarce, this degree of to that of other Asian urban centers such as absorb the wastes being generated. within its own borders. dependency on external biocapacity poses Singapore. considerable risk. To help offset some of this If Hong Kong residents were to depend solely Much of Hong Kong’s imported biocapacity risk, Hong Kong’s government and residents Since 1965, Hong Kong’s per person on the biological capacity of their land and sea comes from other regions of China. Other can apply a resource accounting system Ecological Footprint has more than doubled, base, they would require more than 250 Hong major trade partners include Pacific Rim such as the Ecological Footprint to better with the carbon component increasing Kongs. But like Singapore, in modern times, countries such as Japan, South Korea and the understand the nature and extent of their approximately seven-fold (Figure 8). This Hong Kong’s growing economy has never United States (Table 3). Hong Kong’s major demand on, and the availability of biocapacity, is despite Hong Kong’s urban lifestyle been dependent on its own limited biocapacity. imports include metals and minerals, plastics, then develop strategies for investing in providing some overall energy efficiencies Even by the mid 1940s, there were few forests and food. Major exports, which include re- infrastructure and encouraging lifestyles that through compact housing and transportation left and sail-powered junks traveled as far as exports, consist of manufactured products, are less dependent on the use of these critical infrastructure. Hainan Island to fish. Instead, its consumption electrical machinery, and metals. assets. is largely dependent on the biocapacity of The demand on the biosphere by Hong Kong other regions and the global commons. Hong This high level of dependence on trade residents goes well beyond what Hong Kong Kong’s net import Footprint is 17.6 million gha, has important implications for Hong Kong’s itself can provide. If everyone on the planet nearly 58 percent of its total consumption economic security and the future well-being

Figure 8: Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint by Land Type, Table 2: Hong Kong’s Total Ecological Footprint and biocapacity three year averages, 1964-2005 per land type, 2005

6 Built-up land Forest Land types Total Ecological Footprint Total Biocapacity Carbon uptake land Grazing land (millions of gha) (millions of gha) 5 Fishing ground Cropland Cropland 4.00 0.01

4 Pasture land 0.25 0.02

3 Forest 0.81 0.03

2 Carbon uptake land 24.00 —

1 Built-up land 0.04 0.04

Fishing ground 0.99 0.02 Ecological Footprint (global hectares per person) 0

Total 30.00 0.12

1964 - 19661967 - 19691970 - 19721973 - 19751976 - 19781979 - 19811982 - 19841985 - 19871988 - 19901991 - 19931994 - 19961997 - 19992000 - 20022003 - 2005

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 Figure 9a: IMPORTED Footprint to Hong Kong from Top Trade Partners, 2005 FIGURE 9b: EXPORTED Footprint from Hong Kong to Top Trade Partners, 2005 EVIDENCE

Million global hectares Million global hectares More than 25 More than 25 10 – 25 10 – 25 5 – 10 5 – 10 1 – 5 1 – 5 Less than 1 Hong Kong’s total imports Footprint = 98 million gha, Less than 1 Hong Kong’s total exports Footprint = 80 million gha. 94% comes from the 20 countries indicated in the map. 95% goes to the 20 countries indicated in the map.

Table 3: Hong Kong’s Footprint of IMPORTS FROM, AND EXPORTS TO, TOP TRADE PARTNERS, 2005

Trading Partner Footprint of Imports Footprint of Exports Net Footprint of Imports Major Products Imported Major Products Exported (millions of gha) (millions of gha) (millions of gha)

Crude fertilizers and crude materials; China 42.88 56.25 -13.37 Plastic materials; Iron and steel Miscellaneous manufactured items

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Japan 9.84 2.87 6.97 Non-metallic mineral manufactures; Plastic materials Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Republic of Korea 6.07 0.54 5.54 Plastic materials; Iron and steel Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles, etc.; Thailand 4.53 0.54 3.98 Plastic materials; Cereals and cereal preparations Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; United States of America 5.61 9.03 -3.42 Plastic materials; Fruit and vegetables Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Crude fertilizers and crude minerals; Malaysia 2.93 0.43 2.50 Plastic materials; Fixed vegetable oils and fats Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Singapore 2.69 0.62 2.07 Plastic materials; Chemical elements and compounds Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Coal, coke and briquettes; Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Indonesia 1.56 0.35 1.21 Textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles Textile yarn, fabrics, made up articles

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Australia 1.67 0.70 0.97 Nonferrous metals; Iron and steel Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Miscellaneous manufactured articles; Netherlands 1.56 0.67 0.89 Plastic materials; Chemical elements and compounds Electrical machinery, apparatus and appliances

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 THE GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGE

The world has changed dramatically over the per person biocapacity has led to growing available per person in the country declined. credits may help protect Indonesia’s ecological past forty years. Many nations, including those ecological deficits in many nations. As China continues to industrialize and assets while providing it with an important in the Asia-Pacific region, have experienced increases its consumption and dependence ongoing revenue stream. rapid economic growth, a reduction in Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint trends on outside resources, it will confront the poverty, and an improved quality of life. These over the past forty years have been similar challenge of sustaining its economic growth The impact of increasing resource constraints positive changes, however, have often been to Japan’s. Both were already ecological while facing tightening constraints on on economic viability differs among nations, accompanied by a corresponding rise in debtors by the 1960s, and experienced rising resources. depending on factors that include population Ecological Footprint. As economies develop prosperity and per person Footprints until the growth, consumption growth and strategic and mature, how will higher living standards 1990s, when these started leveling off. Hong Australia and Indonesia both have an management of biological assets. Carbon be decoupled from resource throughput and Kong and Japan both have high per person ecological reserve, with biocapacity exceeding emissions, and how and when they will be carbon dioxide emissions? income and a relatively low population growth their Ecological Footprints. Australia’s treated under international agreements, are an rate, and are industrialized countries with an historically high per person Footprint may increasingly key factor both for high-income Each person alive today consumes more on Ecological Footprint dominated by carbon be accounted for in part by transportation countries, whose carbon Footprints comprise average than a person did forty years ago. emissions. requirements between widely separated cities, a significant percentage of their overall But at the same time, the amount of biological and by its relatively high meat consumption. Footprints, and for industrializing nations, capacity available per person has fallen, as China’s Footprint has doubled over the last Despite this high Footprint, Australia continues where energy resources play a key role in population growth has outpaced increases in forty years, along with increasing prosperity to have access to a significant, although emerging from poverty. the area and yield of productive ecosystems. for its average resident. During the same slowly diminishing, reserve of biocapacity. As This increased consumption and decreased period, as its population grew, biocapacity an industrialized ecological creditor nation with For most countries, carbon dioxide emitted as both natural and financial capital, Australia a by-product of economic activities is currently may have more options for maintaining a dumped into the global commons of the

Figure 10: Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity and GDP, 1961-2005 viable economy than will nations already atmosphere at no economic cost to polluters running ecological deficits. other than the diffused cost to all that results 7 $30,000 from climate change. As emitted carbon Ecological Footprint Indonesia, a middle-income nation, has a becomes a commodity traded or regulated 6 Biocapacity $25,000 modest Footprint that is converging with its by international treaties, the economic GDP still slightly greater biocapacity. Because its consequences of a high carbon Footprint 5 $20,000 carbon Footprint is relatively small, Indonesia’s will become an increasingly important Footprint suggests a resource consumption consideration in the strategies countries adopt 4 $15,000 pattern based more on meeting basic needs for improving the well-being of their citizens 3 such as food, and less on discretionary while maintaining the robustness of their spending. With considerable forest biocapacity economies. $10,000 2 still remaining, a developing market for carbon

Global hectares per person Global hectares $5,000 1 Per capita GDP (in current US$) Per capita GDP Figures 10-14: Ecological Footprint, 0 $0 Biocapacity and GDP per person for Hong 1962 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1986 1990 1994 1998 2002 Kong, China, Japan, Indonesia and Australia, 1961-2005.

10 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 Figure 11: China’s Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity and GDP, 1961-2005 Figure 12: Japan’s Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity and GDP, 1961-2005

6 $45,000 2.5 Ecological Footprint $1,800 Ecological Footprint

Biocapacity $1,600 Biocapacity $40,000 5 2.0 GDP $1,400 GDP $35,000

$1,200 4 $30,000 1.5 $1,000 $25,000 3 $800 $20,000 1.0 $600 2 $15,000 Global hectares per person Global hectares per person $10,000 $400 (in current US$) Per capita GDP (in current US$) Per capita GDP 0.5 1 $200 $5,000

0.0 $0 0 $0 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 TUR NIN

Figure 13: Indonesia’s Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity and GDP, 1961-2005 Figure 14: Australia’s Ecological Footprint, Biocapacity and GDP, 1961-2005 T THE G

3.0 $1,400 Ecological Footprint 30 Ecological Footprint $40,000 I DE Biocapacity $1,200 Biocapacity $35,000 2.5 25 GDP GDP $1,000 $30,000 2.0 20 $25,000 $800

1.5 15 $20,000 $600 $15,000 1.0 10

$400 Global hectares per person Global hectares per person $10,000 Per capita GDP (in current US$) Per capita GDP (in current US$) Per capita GDP 0.5 5 $200 $5,000

0.0 $0 0 $0 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 1961 1965 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 11 PATHS FOR THE FUTURE

If humanity continues on its current trajectory, Within this global context, Hong Kong has 1. The Population Factor even optimistic United Nations projections important decisions to make regarding Increases in population can be slowed and with moderate increases in population, food resource use and an ever-increasing eventually reversed by supporting families and fibre consumption, and carbon dioxide dependence on biocapacity from outside of in choosing when to have children. Offering emissions suggest that around 2030 humanity the administrative region. women access to safe and affordable will demand resources at more than double family planning, better education, economic the rate at which the Earth can regenerate Five factors determine the extent of global opportunities, and health care are proven them. This degree of overshoot risks not only overshoot, or a nation’s ecological deficit. approaches to achieving this. Hong Kong’s the loss of biodiversity, but also damage to Three of these factors shape the Ecological population growth rate is currently less than ecosystems and their ability to provide the Footprint: population size, the average one percent, but total population makes Hong resources and services on which humanity consumption per person in that population, Kong one of the most densely populated areas depends. The alternative to the current and the resource and waste intensity per in the world, with 6,303 people per square trajectory is to eliminate overshoot. unit of consumption. Two factors determine kilometer. biocapacity: the amount of productive area available, and the productivity of that area. 2. The Consumption Factor The potential for reducing consumption depends in part on an individual’s economic Figure 15: FOOTPRINT AND BIOCAPACITY FACTORS THAT DETERMINE situation. While people living at or below GLOBAL OVERSHOOT subsistence may need to increase their consumption to move out of poverty, there are many opportunities for more affluent people to reduce consumption while still improving 2.1 gha per person 2.7 gha per person their quality of life. With a high level of human (2005 global biocapacity) (2005 global Footprint) development as defined by the United Nations, and a high per person income, Hong Kong is well-positioned to reduce its Footprint while enhancing its lifestyle.

Biocapacity Gap between supply Area x Bioproductivity = (SUPPLY) and demand: OVERSHOOT

Consumption Resource and Ecological Footprint x x = Population per person waste intensity (DEMAND) Figure 15: Five factors that determine global overshoot. In order to reduce its ecological deficit, Hong Kong can either increase its biocapacity or reduce its Ecological Footprint.

12 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 Figure 16: liFESPAN OF PEOPLE, ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

3. The Technology Factor The amount of resources used and wastes In choosing investments that will help for businesses. This strategy can result in an unsustainable track. Although highways emitted in the production of goods and reduce its ecological deficit, there are two very rapid, short-term gains, while building may be cheaper in the short-term to build services can be significantly reduced. complementary paths that Hong Kong can momentum that can help set society on a low- and maintain, the construction of a light rail This can be accomplished through energy simultaneously pursue: Footprint path. system may, over the long-term, result in conservation and efficiency in manufacturing a much smaller transportation Footprint. and in the home, waste minimization, Path #1: Invest in things that are quick Path #2: Invest in things that change Likewise, investments in power generation increased recycling, more fuel-efficient and easy to change. slowly. should be mindful of the carbon Footprint vehicles, and a reduction in the distance This strategy involves solutions that are Reducing Hong Kong’s ecological deficit in that will accumulate over the lifespan of the goods are transported. Business and industry simple, cheap and the public is ready to the long run will require decision-making facility. Today, proactive decisions about react to government policies that promote embrace. Investments in clean technology, within a long-term framework (Figure 16). human population size and infrastructure resource efficiency and technical innovation such as energy efficient light bulbs, often Often the decisions with the largest long- development will have the most enduring and – where such policies are clear and long term are able to quickly reduce Footprint intensity term Footprint impact are not those that significant impacts on Hong Kong’s future – as well as to consumer pressure. without reducing the quality of life of end place the greatest demand on the planet ecological deficit, and its ability to ensure the consumers, and create new opportunities today, but those that lock development into well-being of its residents. 4. The Area Factor Bioproductive area can be extended: non-productive lands can be made fertile through careful management. Terracing has TUR had historical success, and irrigation, too, NIN can make marginal lands more productive, Figure 16: LIFESPAN OF PEOPLE, ASSETS AND INFRASTRUCTURE though the gains may not persist. Above all, T THE G good land management must ensure that bioproductive areas are not lost, for example, Solar power 25 - 40 years I to urbanization, salinization or desertification. DE Highway 20 - 50 years

5. The Bioproductivity Factor Bridge 30 - 75 years The amount of resources produced per hectare depends both on the type of Coal-powered power station 30 - 75 years ecosystem and the way it is managed. People (national averages) 32 - 82 years Agricultural technologies can boost productivity, but can also diminish biodiversity. Commercial building design 50 - 100 years Energy intensive agriculture and heavy reliance on fertilizer and pesticides may Wind power 20 - 100 years increase yields, but at the cost of a larger Figure 16: Lifespan of people, assets and infrastructure. The long life of infrastructure Railway, home, and dam 50 - 150 years Footprint. If these inputs impoverish soil, means that the infrastructure Hong Kong invests yields may ultimately begin to fall. in today will detemine levels of resource use for 2005 2025 2045 2065 2085 2105 2125 2145 2165 2185 2205 decades. Year

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 13 HONG KONG: TRANSFORMATION TO SUSTAINABILITY

In his 2008-09 Policy Address, HKSAR’s Carbon Reduction Strategies: (Figure 17). Office buildings consume much of WWF’s carbon calculator (www.climateers. Chief Executive embraced the challenge Governmental. Hong Kong’s per capita the energy in the commercial sector. Some 48 org). Actions can be taken to change daily of sustainable development. Hong Kong is Ecological Footprint has grown rapidly percent of the energy consumption in an office habits at home and at work, which will bring fortunate in having the financial resources to since 1965, and has since continued to rise building is typically for space conditioning, a significant reduction in personal carbon meet this challenge, to transform itself into a due to the dramatic increment in its carbon 22 percent for office equipment, 19 percent footprint. truly modern city where its residents can live component. Over 60% of carbon dioxide for lighting, and 11 percent for lifts and the well on a modest Ecological Footprint. In doing is emitted by the burning of fossil fuels for others. Building owners and construction LIVE REEF FOOD FISH so, Hong Kong can lead by example, providing electricity generation. Hong Kong’s electricity companies can increase implementation and Hong Kong’s demand for seafood has long a sustainability blueprint for other cities in is mostly generated by coal-fired power adoption of effective low-carbon designs exceeded the amount its limited territorial China and around the world. stations. In terms of carbon dioxide emissions, and management systems for buildings waters can produce. Indeed, the demand from coal is double that of natural gas. and offices. Carbon audits for buildings can Hong Kong and mainland China for certain CARBON provide guidance and tools for both owners species of reef fish that can be chosen live just The Policy Address advised that In the Policy Address, The HKSAR Chief and tenants to reduce emissions. before being cooked has led to Hong Kong environmental protection will be further Executive committed to exploring ways to becoming not only an importing consumer, strengthened through close collaborations gradually increase the use of clean energy Individual. The individual contribution made but also the centre for significant global trade, with neighbours in the Pearl River Delta in sources, for example, natural gas for power by Hong Kong residents towards a sustainable primarily for re-exports to mainland China. the areas of post-2010 emission reduction generation from the current 28 percent to 50 society can be substantial. Individuals can This huge demand for Live Reef Food Fish arrangements, the optimisation of the fuel mix percent. However, without a specific timetable measure the carbon emissions produced (LRFF) has driven the rapid expansion of for power generation, and the development for implementation, it remains to be seen how by their own personal consumption using this fishery in Asia (Figure 18). In the 1970s, and wider use of renewable energy. In this effective such broad policy directives will be in regard, Government, commercial firms and contributing to a low carbon economy. Figure 17: HONG KONG ENERGY CONSUMPTION BY SECTORS, 1995-2005 individuals all have a role to play in achieving sustainability. Hong Kong would certainly benefit from the introduction of stringent government 300 000 Transport Industrial Commercial Residential The Chief Executive also endorsed the Renewable Obligations (RO) to the electricity need to address climate change by building utilities. Such a RO would place an obligation 250 000 a low carbon economy based on energy on Hong Kong suppliers of electricity to conservation, the usage of clean fuels and a increase the proportion of renewable energy 200 000 reduction in the use of coal. in their current generation portfolio within a specific timeframe. Voluntary initiatives 150 000 Some 80% of Hong Kong’s total Ecological are unlikely to result in city-wide reductions Terajoule Footprint in 2005 was the carbon component. fast enough to meaningfully support global 100 000 This is expressed as an estimate of the area of commitments of emissions reductions. world forest that would be required to remove 50 000 and retain the carbon dioxide emissions from Commercial. Commerce is the highest fossil fuel combustion. Reducing carbon consumer of energy in Hong Kong, above the 0 emissions is therefore essential to reducing transport, industrial and residential sectors. 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Year Hong Kong’s overall ecological overshoot. It accounts for 37 percent of total energy use

14 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 the fishery for LRFF was mainly in the South LRFF Reduction Strategies: WWF’s Seafood Guide is a handy reference. down across all bureaus and government China Sea bordering the Philippines, Spratley, Sustainable fishery management. Products which are inherently unsustainable departments would help reduce Hong Kong’s Paracel and Pratas Islands. When these areas Catches from local waters are poor, and today, such as shark fin, should simply be Footprint. For example, a requirement can became depleted, in the 1980s, the LRFF composed mostly of small and low value avoided. Seafood products with a Marine be set that paper and timber products come fishery expanded to waters off Malaysia, species, as a result of unsustainable fishing Stewardship Council (MSC) label have been from recycled or legal, sustainably harvested Singapore, Palau and Indonesia; by the 1990s practices. Initiatives to design and implement sustainably harvested. sources (e.g. Forest Stewardship Council the areas fished had quadrupled in response sustainable fisheries management and certified), with industry and individuals to the unsustainable demand. Hong Kong and restore fish stocks have begun, and if fully SUSTAINABLE FINANCE AND encouraged to do the same. increasingly southern mainland China now implemented will result in increased catches CONSUMPTION take a significant portion of the total stock of larger species of high value, and potentially The public sector in Hong Kong is a major Companies are increasingly finding new and of live fish, particularly high-value groupers an increase of 7 percent in self-sufficiency in end user of imported natural resources, innovative ways to shift towards sustainable and wrasses, from the Pacific and the Indian 25 years. and can guide the commercial sector. At practices. As a financial hub where many Oceans. present sustainability targets are used only multi-national companies locate offices Individuals and businesses. Local, sporadically in procurement policies, and are and operations, Hong Kong can lead in the The number of countries involved in the LRFF unsustainably harvested seafood can be neither initiated nor developed in a strategic adoption of sustainable business practices, trade escalated from 18 in 1998 to 35 in 2005, substituted for that which is sustainable; manner. Introducing targets and policies top encouraging other cities to do the same. while the imports of three important wild- caught LRFF species increased by almost Through its financial investment mechanisms,

60 percent from 1999 to 2006. Since 1999 Figure 18: source Countries for live Reef Food Fish imported Hong Kong plays a globally important role TUR (when species-level trade data first became into Hong Kong, China in the sourcing and utilization of natural NIN available), leopard coral trout has been the resources. Institutions based in Hong Kong most heavily-traded species, followed by still finance some dubious practices, directly T THE G squaretail coral trout and humphead wrasse. and indirectly, despite this ultimately being bad The record quantity for import of these three for business, and potentially damaging to their China Japan I species into Hong Kong reached almost 3,400 reputation. While more progressive leaders DE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN East China Sea tonnes in 2006. Humphead wrasse is now Hong Kong Taiwan have established sustainability policies, others X listed in Appendix II of CITES (Convention India can do more. Stock exchange regulations can Thailand 1970sPhilippines Arabian Sea Bay of Bengal on the International Trade of Endangered South Marshall Islands be changed to eliminate Hong Kong’s direct or China Sea Species of Flora and Fauna), while the current Sri Lanka indirect financing of unsustainable practices Malaysia Celebes Sea Singapore conservation status of squaretail coral trout 1980s Papua New Guinea such as illegal logging and deforestation Indonesia is ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN Red List 2008. All Solomon Islands operations. INDIAN OCEAN three species (except leopard coral trout from 1990s Australia) are in the WWF Hong Kong Seafood Australia SOUTH PACIFIC OCEAN Guide “Avoid” category.

Adapted from While Stocks Last – The Live Reef Food Fish Trade, Asian Development Bank

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 15 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How is the Ecological Footprint individual of that country. For example, a Ecological Footprint is a biophysical measure; absorb and store the carbon dioxide not calculated? five-hectare per person Footprint means that it does not evaluate the essential social and sequestered by humans, less the amount The Ecological Footprint measures the an average individual in that country uses all economic dimensions of sustainability. absorbed by the oceans. This is the Footprint amount of biologically productive land and of the resources provided by five hectares for fossil fuels. Currently, negligible amounts water area required to produce the resources of world-average productive land. This land How do you measure biocapacity and how of carbon dioxide are sequestered through an individual, population or activity consumes. does not need to be within the borders of do you determine how much is available? human technological processes. It simultaneously measures the area the individual’s country as biocapacity is Biocapacity per person is calculated by required to absorb the waste we generate, often imported from other countries to meet taking the total amount of bioproductive land The sequestration rate used in Ecological given prevailing technology and resource consumption demands. worldwide and dividing it by world population. Footprint calculations is based on an estimate management. This area is expressed in It is a globally aggregated measure of the of how much carbon the world’s forests can global hectares, which have world-average What is included in the Ecological amount of land and sea area available per remove from the atmosphere and retain. One biological productivity. Footprint calculations Footprint? What is excluded? person to produce crops, livestock (pasture), 2005 global hectare can absorb the carbon use yield factors to take into account national To avoid exaggerating human demand on timber products (forest) and fish (fishery dioxide released by burning approximately differences in biological productivity (e.g., nature, the Ecological Footprint includes grounds), to support infrastructure (built-up- 1525 litres of gasoline per year. tonnes of wheat per UK hectare versus per only those aspects of resource consumption land) and to sequester carbon emission. A Argentina hectare) and equivalence factors and waste production for which the Earth nation’s biocapacity may include more global The fossil fuel Footprint does not suggest that to take into account differences in world has regenerative capacity, and where data hectares than the nation has actual hectares carbon sequestration is the key to resolving average productivity among land types (e.g., exist that allow this demand to be expressed if its land and sea area are highly productive. global warming. Rather the opposite: It shows world average forest versus world average in terms of productive area. For example, Biocapacity assessments reflect technological that the biosphere does not have sufficient cropland). freshwater withdrawal is not included in the advancements that increase yields, as the capacity to cope with current levels of carbon Footprint, although the energy used to pump conversion of hectares into global hectares dioxide emissions. As forests mature, their Footprint and biocapacity results for nations or treat it is. takes into account productivity. carbon dioxide sequestration rate approaches are calculated annually by the Global Footprint zero, and the Footprint per tonne of carbon Network. The continuing methodological Ecological Footprint accounts provide How does the Ecological Footprint dioxide sequestration increases. Eventually, development of these National Footprint snapshots of past resource demand and account for the use of fossil fuels? forests may even become net emitters of Accounts is overseen by a review committee availability. They do not predict the future. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas carbon. (www.Footprintstandards.org/committees). Thus, while the Footprint does not estimate are extracted from the Earth’s crust rather A detailed methods paper and copies of future losses caused by present degradation than produced by current ecosystems. When How is international trade taken sample calculation sheets can be obtained at of ecosystems, if persistent this degradation burning this fuel, carbon dioxide is produced. into account? www.footprintnetwork.org. will likely be reflected in future accounts as a In order to avoid carbon dioxide accumulation The national Ecological Footprint accounts loss of biocapacity. in the atmosphere, the goal of the UN calculate each country’s net consumption What does a per capita national Footprint Framework Convention on Climate Change, by adding its imports to its production and actually mean? Footprint accounts also do not indicate the two options exist: a) human technological subtracting its exports. This means that the A per capita national Footprint measures the intensity with which a biologically productive sequestration, such as deep well injection; or resources used for producing a car that is amount of bioproductive space under constant area is being used, nor do they pinpoint b) natural sequestration. Natural sequestration manufactured in Japan, but sold and used production required to support the average specific biodiversity pressures. Finally, the corresponds to the biocapacity required to in India, will contribute to the Indian, not the Japanese consumption Footprint.

16 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 The resulting national consumption Footprints Does the Ecological Footprint ignore the Cropland the Hong Kong SAR. They were taken from can be distorted, since the resources used role of population growth as a driver in The FAOSTAT statistical database does http://www.pland.gov.hk/info_serv/statistic/ and waste generated in making products for humanity’s increasing consumption? not contain agricultural harvest or trade landu_e.html (Accessed 30 August 2008). export are not fully documented. This can bias The total Ecological Footprint of a nation or data for Hong Kong separately from China. This source only provides land cover data for the Footprints of countries whose trade-flows of humanity as a whole is a function of the The cropland Footprint of production for the years 2003-2007, so 2005 numbers were are large relative to their overall economies. number of people consuming, the quantity Hong Kong was estimated for 2005 based used and were assumed to be constant in These misallocations, however, do not affect of goods and services an average person on production data for a few broad crop previous years. the total global Ecological Footprint. consumes, and the resource intensity of categories, then extrapolated to previous these goods and services. Since Footprint years using a constant per capita Footprint Why has Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint Does the Ecological Footprint matter if accounting is historical, it does not predict of production. Trade in crop products was declined since the late 1990s? the supply of renewable resources can how any of these factors will change in estimated based on data from the UN A number of factors may have played a role. be increased and advances in technology the future. However, if population grows or COMTRADE database. Two historical events occurred in 1997: the can slow the depletion of non-renewable declines (or any of the other factors change), Asian market crisis, and Hong Kong’s return resources? this will be reflected in future Footprint Grazing Land to Chinese sovereignty. Analysis of how these The Ecological Footprint measures the current accounts. Like cropland, the grazing land Footprint two events impacted Hong Kong’s trade state of resource use and waste generation. It of production was estimated for 2005, and flows and consumption patterns would show asks: In a given year, did human demand on Footprint accounts also show how resource assumed to be proportional to population the extent to which they contributed to the ecosystems exceed the ability of ecosystems consumption is distributed among regions. For in previous years. Trade in livestock was Footprint decline. However, this goes beyond to meet this demand? Footprint analysis example, the total Footprint of the Asia-Pacific also estimated based on data from the UN the scope of the current report. reflects both increases in the productivity region, with its large population but low per COMTRADE database. More information about Ecological Footprint of renewable resources (for example, if the person Footprint, can be directly compared to methodology, data sources, assumptions productivity of cropland is increased, then the that of North America, with its much smaller Forest Land and definitions can be found in The Footprint of 1 tonne of wheat will decrease) population but much larger per person The forest land Footprint of production was Ecological Footprint Atlas 2008, available at: and technological innovation (for example, Footprint. assumed to be zero. The embodied Footprints www.footprintnetwork.org/atlas if the paper industry doubles the overall of traded forest products was estimated based How have the 2008 National Accounts efficiency of paper production, the Footprint on the UN COMTRADE database, since Hong been adapted for Hong Kong? per tonne of paper will be cut by half). Kong is not included in the FAO ForesSTAT Due to a lack of available data, several Ecological Footprint accounts capture these database. alterations to the standard National Footprint changes as they occur and can determine Accounts methodology were necessary Fishing Grounds the extent to which these innovations have to calculate Hong Kong’s Footprint and Traded quantities of fish commodities were succeeded in bringing human demand within biocapacity over time. These adaptations derived from the UN COMTRADE database. the capacity of the planet’s ecosystems. If involved using alternate data sources to DATA there is a sufficient increase in ecological Built-up Land calculate Footprint components. In some supply and a reduction in human demand due Land cover areas used for Footprint and cases, only a single year’s data was available, to technological advances or other factors, biocapacity calculations were from the requiring time series data to be estimated Footprint accounts will show this as the planning department of the government of based on population. elimination of global overshoot.

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 17 TECHNICAL NOTES

ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT ACCOUNTING cellulosic ethanol would result in corn stover These accounts calculate the Ecological bioproductivity, different types of areas can The Ecological Footprint is a well known becoming a useful material, thereby increasing Footprint and biocapacity of 150 nations with be converted into the common unit of global resource accounting tool that measures how the biocapacity for maize cropland). populations over one million from 1961-2005. hectares, hectares with world average much biologically productive land and water Results are available by request from Global bioproductivity. An ecological deficit represents the amount area an individual , a city, a country, a region, Footprint Network (data@footprintnetwork. by which the Ecological Footprint of a • Because a single global hectare represents or humanity uses to produce the resources org). population exceeds the available biocapacity a single mutually exclusive use, and all it consumes and to absorb the wastes it of that population’s territory in a given year. National Footprint Accounts calculations global hectares in any single year represent generates, using prevailing technology and A national ecological deficit measures the are based primarily on international data the same amount of bioproductivity, they resource management. The Ecological amount by which a country’s Footprint sets published by the Food and Agriculture can be added up to obtain an aggregate Footprint is most commonly expressed in units exceeds its biocapacity. A nation can operate Organization of the United Nations (FAO), indicator of Ecological Footprint or of global hectares. its economy with an ecological deficit by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the biocapacity. A global hectare is a hectare that is normalized importing biocapacity from other nations, by UN Statistics Division (UN Commodity Trade • Human demand, expressed as the to have the world average productivity of all placing demands on the global commons (e.g. Statistics Database – UN Comtrade), and the Ecological Footprint, can be directly biologically productive land and water in a carbon stocks in the atmosphere, fishing in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change compared to nature’s supply, biocapacity, given year. Because of international trade and international waters), or by depleting its own (IPCC). Other data sources include studies in when both are expressed in global the dispersion of wastes, hectares demanded domestic ecological assets. A global ecological peer-reviewed science journals and thematic hectares. can be physically located anywhere in the deficit, however, cannot be offset through collections. Because the FAO does not track world. trade and inevitably leads to the depletion of data separately from China, the analysis of • Area demanded can exceed area supplied ecological assets and/or the accumulation of Hong Kong’s Footprint required modification of if demand on an ecosystem exceeds that Hong Kong’s Ecological Footprint measures wastes. the standard Footprint method (as detailed in ecosystems regenerative regenerative the biological capacity needed to produce the the Frequently Asked Questions section). capacity (e.g., humans can temporarily goods and services consumed by residents of Populations with an Ecological Footprint demand resources from forests or fisheries Hong Kong, as well as the capacity needed to smaller than their available biocapacity METHODOLOGY faster than they are being replaced). This assimilate the carbon emissions they generate. are operating with an ecological reserve, Ecological Footprint accounting is based on six situation, where Ecological Footprint Resources used for the production of goods meaning that each year the land generates fundamental assumptions: exceeds available biocapacity, is known as and services that are exported are counted more bioproductivity than is consumed by overshoot. in the Ecological Footprint of the region the citizens. A nation’s ecological reserve is • The majority of resources people consume and the wastes they generate can be where the goods and services are ultimately not necessarily unused, however but may be Updates to the Methodology Since 2006 tracked. consumed. occupied by the Footprints of other countries The most extensive change from the 2006 that import biocapacity from that nation. Biocapacity (or biological capacity) is • Most of these resources and waste flows edition of the National Footprint Accounts to Countries also may choose to reserve this the capacity of ecosystems to produce can be measured in terms of the biologically the 2008 edition was in response to a revision biocapacity for the use of wild species or for useful biological materials and to absorb productive area necessary to maintain in the structure of the United Nations Food future generations. waste generated by humans using current flows. Resource and waste flows that and Agriculture Organization’s Corporate cannot be measured are excluded from Statistical Database (FAO FAOSTAT Statistical management schemes and extraction DATA SOURCES the assessment, leading to a systematic Databases 2007). This database, which technologies. “Useful biological materials” The Ecological Footprint results for Hong underestimate of humanity’s true Ecological serves as the basis for the national Footprint are defined by the human economy that year. Kong and other nations found in this report Footprint. calculations, formerly aggregated all products What is considered “useful” can change over are based on Global Footprint Network’s into 10 groups. FAO no longer provides these time (e.g. the use of corn stover to produce National Footprint Accounts, 2008 Edition. • By weighing each area in proportion to its aggregated product groups, so in the 2008

18 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 edition of the NFA raw, non-aggregated the relationship between human activities and accounts as a decrease in biocapacity, overestimating those that host tourists and data was used instead. This substantially natural ecosystems. The current Ecological Ecological Footprint accounting does not underestimating the home countries of increased the number of commodities for Footprint methodology has several limitations currently include risk assessment models that travelers. Current data constraints also prevent which production and trade data are available, that suggest areas where additional indicators could allow a present accounting of these the Footprint associated with the generation leading to more detailed accounts but also may be used for more complete decision future damages. of internationally-traded electricity from being requiring the use of additional conversion making. allocated to the final consumer of this energy. Similarly, Ecological Footprint accounts do factors to determine the primary product Because the Footprint is an historical not directly account for freshwater use and Incomplete scientific knowledge about the fate equivalents of processed products. These accounting tool, many activities that availability, since freshwater can act as a limit of greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide new conversion factors were compiled from a systematically erode nature’s future on the amount of biological capacity in an makes it difficult to estimate the biocapacity variety of FAO and other UN sources. regenerative capacity are not included area but is not itself a biologically produced required to neutralize their climate change Other specific changes to the 2008 accounts in current and past Ecological Footprint resource. Although the loss of biocapacity potential. The demand on biocapacity from include tracking an increased number of accounts. These activities include the release associated with water appropriation or emission of these other greenhouse gases is commodities for cropland, estimating overall of materials for which the biosphere has water quality degradation is reflected as a therefore not currently included in Ecological demand on grazing land by subtracting no significant assimilation capacity (e.g. decrease in overall biocapacity in that year, an Footprint accounts. Carbon dioxide added market feed and residues from animal feed plutonium, PCBs, dioxins, and other persistent Ecological Footprint reflecting this use is not to the atmosphere from flaring of gas and oil requirements, and expansion of the list of pollutants) and processes that damage the currently allocated to water consumers. wells, chemical process in cement production, fish species caught for the fishing ground biosphere’s future capacity (e.g., loss of tropical rain forest fires and some biofuesls is Tourism activities are currently attributed to Footprint. Additional sources of carbon dioxide biodiversity, salination resulting from cropland included in the total global Footprint, but not the country in which they occur rather than to emissions are accounted for in the 2008 irrigation, soil erosion from tilling). Although allocated to individual countries. the traveler’s country of origin. This distorts accounts, including emissions from gas flaring, the consequences of these activities will the relative size of some countries’ Footprints, cement production, tropical forest fires, and be reflected in future Ecological Footprint some biofuels. Another significant change in the 2008 Edition was elimination of a proxy that estimated the nucler power in terms of the Table 4: cHINA’S FOOTPRINT AND BIOCAPACITY IN 2003: COMPARISON OF RESULTS FROM THE 2006 VERSUS 2008 EDITION OF carbon dioxide that would have been emitted THE NATIONAL FOOTPRINT ACCOUNTS if an equivalent amount of electricity were generated using fossil fuels. China (2003) These methodological changes have resulted 2006 National Accounts 2008 National Accounts in a small increase in both per capita Footprint Ecological Footprint Biocapacity Ecological Footprint Biocapacity and biocapacity for China when results of the (gha per person) (gha per person) (gha per person) (gha per person) two editions are compared, for a given year Cropland 0.40 0.34 0.53 0.39 (Table 4). However, the ratio between Footprint Grazing Land 0.12 0.12 0.15 0.15 and biocapacity remained largely unchanged. DATA Forest Land 0.12 0.16 0.13 0.16 LIMITATIONS Fishing Grounds 0.17 0.09 0.06 0.08 Although the goal of Ecological Footprint Carbon Uptake Land 0.75 — 0.92 — accounting is to measure human demand on Built-up Land 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08 the biosphere as accurately as possible, no single indicator can capture every aspect of Total 1.64 0.78 1.87 0.86

Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 19 REFERENCES

GENERAL 7. Kitzes, J., S. Buchan, A. Galli, B. Ewing, HONG KONG : TRANSFORMATION TO Power Station in Guangdong Province C. Shengkui, X. Gaodi, C. Shuyan. 2008. SUSTAINABILITY SECTION is not included in this report as current 1. Ewing B., S. Goldfinger, M. Wackernagel, Report on Ecological Footprint in China. Ecological Footprint methodology does M. Stechbart, S.M. Rizk, A. Reed, J. 1. Report on Ecological Footprint in China CCICED, WWF, INGSNRR, Global not account for electricity from nuclear Kitzes. 2008 The Ecological Footprint 2008. http://www.wwfchina.org/english/ Footprint Network. power plants. http://www.emsd.gov. Atlas 2008. Oakland: Global Footprint downloads/China%20Footprint/chna_ hk/emsd/e_download/pee/HKEEUD2007. Network. 8. Kitzes, J., A. Peller, S. Goldfinger, and M. footprint_report_final.pdf pdf) Wackernagel. 2007. Current Methods for 2. Ewing B., A. Reed, S. M. Rizk, A Galli, 2. Sadovy, YJ., TJ. Donaldson, TR. Graham, Calculating National Ecological Footprint 7. Environment Bureau, “Energy Supplies” M. Wackernagel and J. Kitzes, 2008. F. McGilvray, GJ. Muldoon, MJ. Phillips, Accounts. Science for Environment & April 2008, http://www.enb.gov.hk/en/ Calculation Methodology for the National MA. Rimmer, A. Smith and B. Yeeting. Sustainable Society 4(1): 1-9. about_us/policy_responsibilities/energy. Footprint Accounts, 2008 Edition. While Stocks Last – The Live Reef Food html Oakland: Global Footprint Network. 9. Monfreda, C, M. Wackernagel, and D. Fish Trade, Asian Development Bank Deumling. 2004. Establishing national (2003): 147pp 8. Hong Kong Chief Executives 2008-2009 3. Fogary, D. “Nations see REDD in rush natural capital accounts based on Policy Address: http://www.policyaddress. for carbon credits.” Reuters, 29 October 3. The Census and Statistics Department detailed Ecological Footprint and gov.hk/08-09/index.html 2008, via AlertNet, http://www.alertnet. and the Agriculture, Fisheries and biological capacity assessments. Land org/thenews/newsdesk/SP293751.htm Conservation Department of the HKSAR 9. International Energy Agency, World Use Policy 21: 231-246. (accessed 29 October 2008). Government 1999-2006. Data collected Energy Outlook, 2006 10. United States Department of State, and collated. http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/ http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/ 4. Galli, A., J. Kitzes, P. Wermer, M. “Background Note: Hong Kong,” Bureau and http://www.afcd.gov.hk/ Wackernagel, V. Niccolucci, and E. 10. Lin, SY. 1940. The Fishing Industries of of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 2008, Tiezzi. 2007. An Exploration of the 4. Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong. Journal of the Hong Kong http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2747.htm Mathematics Behind the Ecological HKSAR, “HK Greenhouse Gas Inventory” Fisheries Research Station, 1(1) 5-101. (accessed September 20, 2008) Footprint. International Journal of March 2008 http://www.epd.gov. 11. Dudgeon, D., and R. Corlett. 2004. The Ecodynamics 2(4): 250-257. 11. Wackernagel, M., C. Monfreda, D. hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/air/data/ Ecology and Biodiversity of Hong Kong, Moran, P. Wermer, S., Goldfinger, D. emission_inve_ghg.html 5. Global Footprint Network. 2008. National Joint Publishing (HK) Company Ltd., Deumling and M. Murray. 2005. National Footprint Accounts, 2008 Edition. 5. census and Statistics Department figures 336pp Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts 2005: Available at www.footprintnetwork.org. “Electricity Consumption” October 2008, The Underlying Calculation Method. 12. lau, PPF. and R. Parry-Jones. 1999. http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/hong_kong_ 6. The Government of the Hong Kong Available at www.footprintnetwork.org. The Hong Kong Trade in Live Reef Fish statistics/statistical_tables/index.jsp Special Administrative Region, “Broad Additional references can be found at For Food. TRAFFIC East Asia and World Land Useage Distribution,” Planning www.footprintnetwork.org/datamethods. 6. Electrical and Mechanical Services Wide Fund For Nature Hong Kong, Hong Department, 2008. http://www.pland. Department of the HKSAR Government. Kong, 65pp 12. World Bank Statistical Database. gov.hk/info_serv/statistic/landu_e.html “Hong Kong Energy End-use Data” 2007 http://go.worldbank.org/45B5H20NV0 (accessed August 2008). (Note: Electricity from Daya Bay Nuclear (accessed January 2007).

20 Hong Kong Ecological Footprint Report 2008 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Alan Leung

Guillermo Moreno

Prof. Yvonne Sadovy

WWF China Office

Global Footprint Network Much of the research for this report would not have been possible without the generous Global Footprint Network would especially like support of: Skoll Foundation, Pollux- to thank the sponsor, authors and contributors Privatstiftung, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, to the CCICED-WWF (2008) Report on Oak Foundation, The Lewis Foundation, Ecological Footprint in China. Some findings Erlenmeyer-Stiftung, Roy A. Hunt Foundation, from the China report were incorporated into The Winslow Foundation, Flora Family this report, and the analysis and insights Foundation, TAUPO Fund, Mental Insight offered in the China report both inspired the Foundation, Richard and Rhoda Goldman authors of the Hong Kong report and simplified Fund, The Dudley Foundation, Foundation our task. Harafi, The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, WWF international, and Cooley Godward LLP.

We would also like to acknowledge Global Footprint Network’s 100 partner organizations and the Global Footprint Network National Published in November 2008 by The material and the geographical designations Accounts Committee for their guidance, WWF Hong Kong. in this report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WWF contributions and commitment to robust Any reproduction in full or in part of this concerning the legal status of any country, National Footprint Accounts. publication must mention the title and credit territory, or area, or concerning the delimitation of the above-mentioned publisher as the its frontiers or boundaries. copyright owner. PHOTOS Adam Minu, Clarus Chu, Rubin Chua, Martin Harvey, Leung Wai Ki, Vicma Lee, Rex Ng, © Text and Graphics: 2008 WWF. Samson So, WWF Hong Kong All rights reserved.

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• Conserving the world’s biological diversity • Ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable

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