Government Appoints New Members to Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee for 2025 Term

Appointments to Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee

The Government today (December 31) announced the appointment of two new members, Ms Zoe Gao and Professor Dennis Leung, and the reappointment of 11 members, to the third term of the Green Tech Fund Assessment Committee (GTFAC) for a two-year term starting from January 1, 2025.

"The GTFAC, chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment), comprises members from different sectors including academia, industrial and environmental practitioners. It is responsible for assessing applications for the Green Tech Fund (GTF) and monitoring the progress of approved projects. We are grateful to the members for their agreement to serve on the GTFAC to work with the Government in promoting the development of low-carbon and green technologies," a spokesman for the Environment and Ecology Bureau said.

The membership of the third term of the GTFAC is as follows:

Chairperson:

Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Environment)

Members:

Dr Lawrence Cheung

Mr Jude Chow

Ms Natalie Chung

Ms Ada Fung

Ms Zoe Gao

Ms Samantha Kong

Mr Stephen Law

Professor Dennis Leung

Ms Angie Li

Mr Tsang Kam-lam

Professor Jonathan Wong

Dr William Yu

Dr Shelley Zhou

The Government set up the GTF in December 2020 to provide better and more focused funding support to research and development projects that help Hong Kong decarbonise and enhance environmental protection. A total of $400 million has been allocated to the fund to support projects in priority areas such as net-zero electricity generation, energy saving and green buildings, green transport and waste reduction. Thirty-three projects from local universities, designated public research institutes and private enterprises have been approved, involving a total grant of around $147 million. The latest approved research and development projects involved technologies of turning incineration ash into artificial aggregates for application in construction projects, turning construction waste into self-healing concrete for application in marine and coastal engineering, and turning waste into hydrogen.

Authorized person disciplined for professional negligence

​The Authorized Persons', Registered Structural Engineers' and Registered Geotechnical Engineers' Disciplinary Board has completed a disciplinary inquiry and decided that an authorized person (AP) should be disciplined for professional negligence under section 7(1A)(b) of the Buildings Ordinance (BO).

The Board ordered the AP to be reprimanded and to pay $131,800, being the costs of the Board for conducting the inquiry.

The Board's written decision and order issued on December 20, 2024, was published in the Gazette today (January 3). Details are available at the following link: www.gld.gov.hk/egazette/pdf/20252901/egn2025290131.pdf.

The case involved a building construction project on Tai Shu Ha Road West in Yuen Long. Upon investigation by the Buildings Department (BD), it was found that the layout of the clubhouse in the project differed from the approved plans, as an additional floor slab was found between G/F and 1/F of the clubhouse. The AP advised in a letter to the BD in 2018 that one of the reasons for altering the layout of the clubhouse was a request from the Water Supplies Department to enlarge the water meter room, which turned out to be inaccurate. In view of the investigation results, the BD notified the Board for its consideration of disciplinary action against the AP under the provision of section 13(1) of the BO.

A spokesperson for the BD emphasised that persons registered under the BO may be disciplined if they are negligent or engage in misconduct.