Hong Kong Wants a 3rd Runway. Will Its Dolphins Pay the Price?
A report published in March by the scientific journal PLOS One, based on a four-and-a-half-year survey by University of Hong Kong biologists, estimated
that "at least 368 dolphins used Hong Kong’s territorial waters as part of their range." Mr. Hung’s government-financed surveys, which use a different methodology, indicate that the dolphin abundance in Hong Kong waters — an estimate of how many dolphins are present at any one time — dropped to a record low of 65 in 2015, from 188 in 2003.
Airport Authority said that We are committed to the Equator Principles.
Samuel Hung said that It’s such a terrible image for Hong Kong that we cannot protect our dolphins because we want even more money,
"Local airlines are not growing as fast as they could, while foreign airlines are waiting to add flights."
But critics call the third runway project a white elephant, in part because it is unclear how much airspace mainland aviation authorities will allocate to Hong Kong in the coming decades, or whether the city airport can even hope to compete over the long term with its mainland Chinese counterparts.
Officials say that the estimated $18 billion project will allow Hong Kong to maintain its status as a global aviation hub and
that a marine park should be created nearby after the runway is completed, around 2023, to compensate for the planned destruction of an area of dolphin habitat roughly twice the size of Central Park in New York City.
Equator Principles said that on the preparation of the environmental information
that financing banks will need, when selected, in order to evaluate this project as lende
