Due to the lack of a comprehensive energy efficiency government labelling scheme in Hong Kong, WWF has extended its Low Carbon Living Appliances Guide (Guide) from nine to 12 product types. It covers 103 brands and over 1,300 models to help Hong Kong consumers make informed shopping decisions on yet-to-be-labelled products based on energy efficiency and carbon performance.

"We are happy to eventually see three product types labelled on 9 November and the consideration of including washing machine and dehumidifiers in the mandatory scheme. Unfortunately, Hong Kong is still far behind many places including the U.S., Australia and Mainland China. TV is the fourth most energy-consuming electrical appliance in Hong Kong households but it has yet to be considered for mandatory labelling," said Dr. William Yu, WWF-Hong Kong's Head of Climate Programme.

In the absence of a mandatory labelling scheme for most other appliances in Hong Kong, WWF's Guide now covers three more product types: dehumidifiers, washing machines and set-top boxes, as well as updating product models of the existing nine types.

"We chose the new three appliance types because they are very popular in Hong Kong households. Set-top boxes are one of the most widely used appliances nowadays. However, there is a relatively low awareness on carbon emissions released by such appliances, which is usually left in ‘standby' mode. We estimated that HK$55 million per year has been wasted to power unused set-top boxes," said Dr. Yu.

The general low awareness of appliances' carbon performance and knowledge of efficient labels, coupled with the slow progress in expanding the mandatory labelling scheme reflect that a lot more is needed to help us tackle the climate crisis from a consumer level. "It has taken 13 years to get three products included in the mandatory labelling scheme. We cannot just wait for the government to add other products at this rate. WWF's Guide hopes to imprint the concept of ‘low carbon living' in consumers' minds whenever they purchase new products, and on the other end to move suppliers towards the increased introduction of low carbon appliances into the market," add Dr. Yu.

Following the launch of the Guide, a few well-known brands including Canon, Fuji Xerox, Hitachi, HP, Megaman, Panasonic, Philips, Rasonic, Siemens, Zanussi have made pledges to WWF to provide latest information and data or make reference to appliance guide on their website or in their showrooms. Dr Yu acknowledged that it showed that the appliances industry has identified a growing low carbon business opportunity while taking actions against climate change.