News & Stories

By Prof. Ning Zhi, Associate Professor of Environment and Sustainability Marine emissions account for 40 percent of air pollution sources in Hong Kong - making them one of the city's most significant pollutant sources. Given the SAR's status as one of the busiest ports in the world, enforcing clean fuel laws is absolutely essential in our quest to clean up our air. Traditionally, policing high sulfur fuel usage is a time-consuming affair: checking ship logs, collecting samples from fuel tanks, taking them back to the lab and then conducting analyses. This process takes days and even weeks. By the time these measurements are complete, the ships are likely to be already far from Hong Kong. Regulators have been looking for a more efficient solution to detect and screen the vessels violating the fuel sulfur cap regulations.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will launch Hong Kong’s first undergraduate program in ocean science and technology this September, to nurture a young generation of new professionals with first-hand experience on the investigation, conservation and management of marine environment.

Prof. Christine LOH has newly joined the Division of Environment at HKUST as Chief Development Strategist. She believes in the power of co-learning that brings together the people and knowledge from different fields including academia, government and public institutions to influence the decision makers. She thinks the China and HKSAR governments and private sectors are paying more attention to environmental and sustainability issues. It is definitely a big area to grow in future and demanding many young professionals from diverse disciplines to work together to make a difference.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Chiaphua Industries Limited (CIL) officially establish the HKUST-CIL Joint Laboratory of Innovative Environmental Health Technologies today. The Joint Lab aims to nurture cutting-edge research in environmental health technologies to enhance the quality of the environment as well as health and well-being of individuals and communities. It will receive funding from CIL for the coming five years.

The Division of Environment & Sustainability and Business Environment Council organized the seminar "Merging Science, Policy, & Business Building a Network of Sustainable Cities" to present and discuss how the urban complexes of Los Angeles, Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta are interconnected through the global trade in goods and resources and the environmental and societal challenges the cities face on 11 September 2017.

The Institute for the Environment of HKUST reached a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with institutes of universities in Guangzhou, Macao, and Taiwan on 15 August 2017 to prioritize research cooperation in air quality and climate change.

SCMP interviewed Prof. Jimmy FUNG, Head of Division of Environment, on 9 January 2017 for his comments on the air pollution peak problem in Hong Kong on last Sunday (8 January). Some people questioned if the toxic smog in northeast China could drift to Hong Kong with the arrival of monsoon winds. Prof. FUNG said that, based on the data from HKUST's Atmospheric and Environmental Database, there was no sign of connection between the very high PM2.5 concentration in northern China and that in Hong Kong. The data suggested that most of the pollutants were generated locally and regionally in Hong Kong and within the Pearl River Delta region.