Past Event
2025-02-05
ATS: “Hang Seng Low Carbon Future – Low Carbon Schools” 2024/25 Academic Year Midterm Ceremony
On 5th February 2025, the first school day after the Lunar New Year holiday, CarbonCare InnoLab (CCIL) held the "Hang Seng Low Carbon Future – Low Carbon Schools" 2024/25 Academic Year Mid-term Ceremony at Aberdeen Technical School (ATS). The event summarised the green activities conducted during the first semester of the 2024/25 academic year, shared information on climate change, youth climate action, and carbon auditing, and presented awards to outstanding students.
Ms Gigi Lam, Programme Manager of CCIL, first provided an update on the latest climate change situation. She highlighted that 2024 was the hottest year on record in Hong Kong and was also confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization as the hottest year globally. The global average temperature increase reached 1.55°C, exceeding the target set by the Paris Agreement and leading to more frequent and severe climate disasters. She emphasised the importance of developing renewable energy, implementing strong climate policies, enhancing community climate resilience, and promoting climate education.
Although secondary school students may feel that they are too young to make a difference, youth efforts should not be underestimated. For example, two sisters aged 12 and 10 from Bali, Indonesia, started by advocating against single-use plastics at their school. This initiative later expanded into beach clean-up activities and community-wide awareness campaigns, eventually leading to the Bali government banning single-use plastics in 2019.
Next, Harriet, a participant in the 5th Climate Advocacy Training for Youth by CCIL, shared her experience of co-founding the youth group "Transtinue" with four other participants. Their advocacy project focused on urging bus companies to improve bus stop facilities to better adapt to climate change.
Through their survey, they found that nearly half of the respondents had experienced physical discomfort due to extreme heat while waiting at bus stops. As a result, they proposed that bus companies and the government consider climate resilience when designing and upgrading bus stops. This initiative demonstrated how young people can contribute to climate adaptation and climate justice. Harriet also explained the practical steps taken by their group, including data research, field studies, interviews, surveys, public engagement, and drafting policy recommendations, showing how ideas can be transformed into concrete actions.
Since last year, CCIL has been conducting a carbon audit at ATS by collecting data from the school. During the mid-term ceremony, Ms. Lam introduced the concept of carbon auditing and provided a preliminary report on transportation-related carbon emissions for the 2023/24 school year.
She revealed that the total carbon emissions from transportation—including students' and staff's daily commutes as well as local, mainland, and overseas exchange programmes—amounted to 40 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent. This is approximately equal to the annual electricity-related carbon emissions of 18 three-person households on Hong Kong Island. The remaining carbon audit results will be announced later.
The ceremony concluded with an awards presentation to recognise students who excelled in various green activities:
- "Online Climate Quiz Game: Top 3 highest-scoring students
- The "No Air-Con Night" Challenge:
- Student with the highest total hours of participation (32 students in total)
- Top 3 classes with the highest student participation
More green activities will be held in the second term, and students are encouraged to participate actively!