The introduction of environmental and social issues into the boardroom is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The threat of climate change adds urgency to the challenge, with the costs of inaction on climate change estimated at between 5 to 20% of global GDP, leading to a global recession. In terms of managing environmental and social concerns, the tourism industry, and the hotel and resort industry, has lagged behind other industries such as utilities, chemicals and banking and investment. Globally an estimated 5% of all CO2 emissions can be attributed to tourism. Energy use in hotels is disproportionately high, thanks to energy intensive facilities such as spas, laundries and swimming pools. The global hotel and resort industry can thus make significant contribution to reduce human impact on the global climate. This research develops a tool which helps the hotel and resort industry identify and manage non-financial risks such as environmental and social issues, and improve sustainable development of individual businesses and the sector as a whole. The research focuses on Guangdong Province, China, the richest province in China in terms of hotel stock, hotel revenues and hotel employees. China herself will be the world’s biggest tourism market by 2020 and given its future growth forecasts is an important venue to study sustainable development. Recognising the difficulty in precisely measuring aspects of social science such as non-financial risk and attitudes towards non-financial risk, the conceptual framework for the study uses the idea of a working non-financial risk management approach towards the production of a set of working propositions useful for business. The study first identifies stakeholders; develops a non-financial risk management methodology to identify, measure, examine and prioritise risks, and then presents the conclusions as working propositions for corporations to use. Recommendations for industry are developed and presented. To achieve the development of the non-financial risk management tool, the research draws a fresh link between risk management, corporate environmental management, sustainability and non-financial risk management. Second, through three research studies, a detailed investigation into the use and practice of sustainability and non-financial risk management is undertaken across 15 hotels in Guangdong Province. The first study is a comprehensive set of detailed in-depth interviews with 79 industry-specific stakeholders. The interviews are coded and the results used to develop the second study, a questionnaire survey of 351 hotel guests and 70 industry-specific stakeholders. A third study executes in-depth case-studies and non-financial risk benchmarking across 15 hotel and resort facilities. The results of all three studies are triangulated for better accuracy and understanding. The study presents a number of working propositions for corporations to adopt as starting points for their own non-financial risk management strategies. It is found that there is generally low awareness and application of non-financial risk management in the hotel and resort industry in Guangdong. The industry-specific stakeholders and guests have very different priorities in terms of non-financial risk management, while resource conservation does emerge as the leading issue amongst industry-specific stakeholders and hotel guests. Cost savings are found to be the main driver for implementing non-financial risk management, while cost of implementation is the main barrier. Through a factor analysis, it becomes clear that two distinct factors are at play in the guest domain: guests’ own well-being and self-need; and wider social or environmental concerns. The study recommends a multi-stakeholder partnership as a value-added framework for public policy, and recommends further research into stakeholder theory in China’s hotel and resort industry. / published_or_final_version / Kadoorie Institute / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Nitrogen pollution in marine waters is directly tied to human development – including agricultural runoff, atmospheric deposition, and urban wastewater effluents. After more than a century of urbanization, Hong Kong faces a major challenge in mitigating marine pollution, particularly nitrogen. Indeed, nitrogen pollution may be one of the primary causes of benthic ecosystem decline as evidenced by a contraction in the historical distribution of corals and seagrasses. Such ecosystems provide vital ecosystem services, not limited to nursery grounds for economically important fisheries. While the Hong Kong Government (HK Environmental Protection Department) has established long-term monitoring of marine nitrogen concentrations, the data obtained on the size of the total nitrogen pool does not indicate the proportion of which is derived from human activities. Stable isotope analysis of nitrogen (δ15N) can provide more accurate information on the source of nitrogen not only in the receiving environment but also in the marine and benthic organisms present. This project critically examines Hong Kong’s nitrogen sources from sewage effluents using stable isotope analysis. Objectives were to investigate (1) the δ15N of sewage effluents sampled across Hong Kong, Kowloon, New Territories, Lantau and Outlying Islands (2) the differences in δ15N across sewage treatment type and (3) the differences in δ15N between the wet and dry seasons with the aim of developing a new approach for detecting and mapping sewage impacts in Hong Kong. Through a 6-month sampling effort across 18 sewage treatment facilities, this study shows that 70% of δ15N values obtained from the sewage effluents were characteristically enriched (δ15N values up to 205 ‰) when compared with naturally occurring nitrogen sources in the biosphere (I10‰ < δ15N < 10‰). Overall, δ15N was more variable in plants with preliminary treatment and chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT) than in plants with primary, secondary or tertiary treatment. The mean daily flow rate explained 75.7% of the observed variability in δ15N values of preliminary treatment plants and 85% of the variability in primary treatment plants. This was also the case in plants having CEPT with a negative correlation of 46% between mean daily flow rate and sewage effluent δ15N values. This suggests varying models for the quantity and retention time of wastewater versus δ15N signatures for different treatment types that require further study. Microbial activity by aerobic bacteria and protozoa, ammonia volatilization and the amount of nitrogen present in the effluents are possible causes for δ15N enrichment. Enterococcus counts of three sites sampled indicated that that the municipal sewer system and wastewater treatment plant in Stonecutters Island (56,100 CFU 100 mlI1) and preliminary treatment facilities (57,800 CFU 100 mlI1) in Hong Kong Island are insufficient in preventing bacterial contamination in comparison to US EPA standards for recreational use of coastal marine waters (35 CFU 100 mlI1). These findings indicate that enriched δ15N values directly translate to the presence of anthropogenic inputs and that monitoring δ15N of primary producers is a feasible and important tool for monitoring wastewater management in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

Organotin compounds (OTs), in particular tributyltin (TBT) and triphenyltin (TPT), have caused widespread adverse effects on marine organisms ever since their wide application as biocides in 1960s. For instance, TBT can induce the abnormal development of imposex in marine gastropods, and inhibit development and growth in oysters. A mandatory global ban on the use of OT-based antifouling systems, therefore, has been enacted by the International Maritime Organization to minimize their environmental impacts since September 2008. As a result, it is anticipated to see a reduction of OT contamination in the marine environment around the world. This study, therefore, primarily aims to test the hypothesis that there is a reduction of both OT contamination and its associated adverse impact to a common biomonitor, the rock shell Reishia clavigera along the coast in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China through a series of field-based investigations. Before the field study, a method was successfully developed to simultaneously quantify the concentrations of six common OTs (i.e., mono-BT, di-BT and TBT; mono-PT, di-PT and TPT) in molluscan tissues using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. These six compounds coexist in marine environments. They are highly toxic to marine organisms and are able to induce imposex in gastropods like R. clavigera. First, a territory-wide survey on tissue concentrations of the OTs and imposex status in R. clavigera collected from 28 coastal sites of Hong Kong was conducted in 2010. The results indicated that all female R. clavigera suffered from imposex, and all rock shells contained high TPT concentrations. A probabilistic ecological risk assessment revealed that 17.6% of R. clavigera across all sites were at risk due to exposure to TPT, whereas the risk associated with TBT was relatively low. The same species collected from Dapeng Bay and Daya Bay, Shenzhen also exhibited high tissue concentrations of TPT. Second, R. clavigera transplanted from relatively clean sites to polluted sites for six months showed increases in both imposex status and tissue concentration of OTs, confirming the association between OT contamination and imposex development. Third, a 25-month population dynamics study of R. clavigera showed a limited recruitment of the species in the polluted sites. To verify if the observed OT contamination was widespread to other marine species in Hong Kong waters, a survey on the tissue concentrations of OTs in 11 local seafood species was conducted. Among them, the tongue sole Paraplagusia blochii had the highest tissue concentration of total OTs, with TPT as the most abundant residue. Potential health risk for consuming this benthic fish species was identified as both hazard quotient of TPT and hazard index exceeded unity. The overall results demonstrate that the coastal marine environments in this region are still heavily contaminated with OTs especially TPT, and there is no obvious sign of recovery of R. clavigera populations. Hopefully, with further scientific investigations, both Hong Kong and China governments will take appropriate management actions to control the use and release of these priority pollutants with a view to safeguarding the marine ecosystem and human health in this region. / HKU 3 Minute Thesis Award, 2nd Runner-up (2013) / published_or_final_version / Biological Sciences / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

abstract / Public Health / Master / Master of Philosophy

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The boron isotopic ratios of three contaminated ground water samples and of leachate from four fly ash samples are shown to be significantly different than the isotopic ratio of naturally occurring boron in a selected ground water. Analysis is performed using thermal ionization mass spectrometry with a precision of less than 1 per mil. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry is shown to be ineffective for this application. Boron is isolated from solution and concentrated using Amberlite IRA-743 resin with no isotopic fractionation observed. Boron desorption from fly ash is shown to be rapid. Boron isotopic analysis is shown to be a superior method to boron concentration analysis for identifying leachate in a ground water, (1) at the outer limits of a leachate plume, and, (2) when the difference between the boron concentration of the leachate and background water is small. The degree of contamination can be determined if both end members are known.