Wong Kam-sing, GBS, JP (, born in 1963), is a Hong Kong architect and the former Secretary for the Environment, Wong had held a number of public service positions before joining the Government, including the first Chairman of the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, the Chairman of the Professional Green Building Council and the Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Green Building Council. He has contributed to the promotion and research of the standards and guidelines for sustainable built environment applicable to the high-density urban environment of Hong Kong.
Wong lived in a subdivided flat in a tenement building in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon in his early years. He later moved to Shatin Pass Estate during kindergarten. Wong has five siblings. In his spare time, he worked as a tutor, made artificial flowers, and worked in factories during summer vacations to help support his family.
During his tenure as the Secretary for the Environment, Wong has introduced a number of policy blueprints to establish the direction, targets and roadmaps for policies on air quality, waste reduction and recycling, nature conservation, climate change and energy. He announced the Hong Kong Environmental Report 2012-2022 in June 2022 and used six âÂÂIâ to illustrate the environmental policies and measures during the past ten years from 2012 to 2022: interaction, innovation, integration, improvement, investment, infrastructure.
The blueprints include:
To improve the air quality, Wong implemented a new set of air quality objectives soon after his assumption of office, and launched the Air Quality Health Index to tie in with the new objectives. From 2010 to 2020, the ambient concentrations of major air pollutants (including respirable suspended particulates, fine suspended particulates, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide) have dropped by 37% to 58%, and the roadside concentrations of such air pollutants have also dropped by 40% to 50%.
In 2017, Wong launched a blog (SENâÂÂs Blog) to brief the public on the latest progress of his policy initiatives with the help of video clips and images. In addition, and pages have been set up in recent years to strengthen communication with the public.
After graduated from CCC Kei Tsz Primary School, Wong studied in St Bonaventure College and High School and Po Leung Kuk CFA No. 1 College (now called Po Leung Kuk No.1 W.H. Cheung College). Wong got his degree from the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong in 1988. He then received further education on sustainable built environment from the graduate school of the University of British Columbia in Canada in the 1990s.
WongâÂÂs wife, Susan Leung So-wan, is also an architect. Leung was the Chair of the Board of Local Affairs of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. They have a daughter.