Organized by the Campus Planning and Sustainability Office (CPSO), the ‘Green Office Programme’ (GO!) was launched on 11 May. Officiating at the ceremony were Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, Vice-Chancellor of CUHK; Prof. P.C. Ching, Pro-Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Fung Tung, Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor; Prof. Chu Lee-man, chairman of the Committee on Campus Environment; and Ms. Vivian Ho, Director of CPSO. GO! is a voluntary incentive programme focusing on four priority areas: energy conservation, waste reduction, green purchasing, and enhancing awareness and engagement. The programme encourages academic, administrative and service units of the University to participate in and commit to some common, simple, effective and achievable green practices such as cutting down use of electricity and recycling materials.

The ceremony was specially arranged to align with the concept of going green. For example, the room temperature was set at 25 degrees and all participants were casually dressed. The event rundown was available electronically, and officiating guests delivered the inaugural speeches by viewing their tablets.

Representatives from the 60 participating offices including the whole management team, the nine Colleges, the Student Union and four student bodies also attended the ceremony and made the pledge to support and put sustainability into action. They also joined Professor Sung in reading aloud the slogan, ‘You can make a difference!’ and witnessed him signing the electronic ‘GO! Charter’.

Prof. Joseph Sung was pleased to see so many colleagues and students committing themselves to this worthy cause. He said, ‘The University’s green initiatives have been fruitful and well recognized. Recently, we have set a five-year target of sustainable development. I hope “GO!” will bring its vision and message to all campus members, so that they will join hands to protect the environment.’