Hong Kong’s per capita carbon emissions have gone down by almost 30 percent since 2014 as the special administrative region aims to stop using landfills before 2035, Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan said Wednesday.

In a speech during a side event at the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) in Azerbaijan, Tse said the city’s per capita carbon emissions have fallen to about 4.4 tonnes in 2023 from 6.11 tonnes a decade ago.

“Hong Kong reached carbon peak in 2014 and set a target to achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. Hong Kong's per capita carbon emission in 2023 was about 4.4 tonnes, which has a reduction by almost 30 percent from the 2014 level," he said in a speech at a side event of the China Pavilion.

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Tse said Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050 has three important targets: Stop using coal for power generation before 2035, promote green transport, and deal with methane emissions from landfills.

“The HKSAR government is working to stop using landfills before 2035,” Chan said, adding that the city’s first waste-to-energy incinerator will come into operation next year.

He said the SAR government will also tender out in December the construction of a second waste-to-energy incinerator which can treat 6,000 tonnes of waste per day.

Tse noted that coal currently accounts for less than 20 percent of Hong Kong's fuel mix for power generation.

He also said that, in the first half of 2024, six to seven out of every 10 newly registered private cars in Hong Kong were electric vehicles.

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 “The country has many innovative products and many new technologies that can help greening the future, reducing carbon emissions, which can help building infrastructures and cities in a green, low carbon, and safe manner,” Tse said.

“Hong Kong can be a gateway for introducing these green technologies and products to other parts of the world.”

Tse also met with Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization Celeste Saulo and exchanged views on strengthening international cooperation in response to extreme weather and green energy transformation. Saulo delivered a speech titled "Early Warning Systems for Effective Climate Action" at the side event.

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Commissioner for Climate Change Wong Chuen-fai and Assistant Director of Hong Kong Observatory Sandy Song also shared the HKSAR government's hydrogen energy development strategy, climate service and climate change adaptation at the event.