Sarah Liao

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Sarah Liao bigraphy, stories - Retired Hong Kong government official

Sarah Liao : biography

25 December 1951 –

Dr. Sarah Mary Liao Sau-tung, GBS, MBE, JP, FRSC (born 25 December 1951) was former Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong since 2002. She was appointed on 1 August 2002 and served until 2007., Harvard Club of Hong Kong, 10 March 2009 She is also a Senior Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong on Environmental and Sustainability Matters..

Professional and political career

Environmental consulting

EHS Consultants Limited and CH2M HILL Ltd. In 1988 Liao founded EHS Consultants Limited which provided a range of environmental services requiring specialist expertise. Projects in the 1990’ s included a comprehensive asbestos management consultancy for the Housing Authority, producing drafting instructions for the Asbestos Regulations under the Air Pollution Control Amendment Bill, major environmental impact assessments relating to Port and Airport Developments, and a territory-wide study on Indoor Air Quality. In 1997, EHS Consultants Limited merged with CH2M HILL Ltd., a US-based environmental consultancy firm with 12,000-employee and U.S.$1.7 billion revenue, and Liao became the Managing Director for Greater China. Recent projects included the study on air quality in the Pearl River Delta, Toxic Substances and pollution in HK waters.

The 2008 Beijing’s Olympic Bidding and Organizing Committees Liao was the senior environmental adviser to Beijing’s Olympic Bidding and Organizing Committees from 1999–2008. She was a member of the bidding committee to represent Beijing at the 2008 Olympic Bidding conference in Moscow on 13 July 2001., 文匯報,26 July 2001

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Liao was named Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works in August 2002 as part of Tung Chee Hwa’s Principal Officials Accountability System. The portfolio covered environmental protection, transport services and safety management, road and rail infrastructure, water supply, slope safety and flood prevention, electrical and mechanical and architectural services, and a public works program averaging HK$27b per year. Upon her government appointment, there were concerns about her close relations with Beijing and her close links to the tobacco industry.

Liao tackled air pollution head-on by the imposition of emission caps on power stations, and worked with Guangdong to successfully institutionalize emission trading and setting up the first regional air monitoring network.,LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL PANEL ON ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS, 2005-09-29, CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL SERIES – ISSUE 6

Liao also implemented the polluters- pay- principle in both solid waste and wastewater, produced a 10-year framework for waste management, encouraged private-public partnerships for private lands to conserve nature while greening of the urban areas was systematically carried out under a territory-wide master plan., EPD, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 26 February 2006

On the transport side, Liao commissioned three new railways, initiated and completed the merger of the two railway companies in HK,, 立法會會議 (投票結果), 6 June 2006 and facilitated cross-boundary traffic by building the Lok Ma Chau railway and the Shenzhen Western Crossing where the first co-location of immigration facilities is implemented. She commissioned and implemented the public transportation fare adjustment scheme to help lift the objectivity and transparency of bus fare adjustments. The scheme, although heavily debated, allowed the public to have visibility to major transportation companies‘ fare policies in relations to micro and macro economic trends and indicators., The Standard, 18 November 2005 She has consistently achieved high approval rates in public opinion polls., Public Opinion Programme, The University of Hong Kong, 1 February 2005

Post retirement

Liao is a member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED),, China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development an Environmental Adviser to the Shanghai Municipal Government on the Shanghai World Expo 2010,,中华人民共和国环境保护部 a Senior Adviser to the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong on Environmental and Sustainability Matters, a trustee on the Board of Trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF),, Environmental Defense Fund and a member of the School Council of the St. Stephen’s Girls’ College of Hong Kong.