Hong Kong’s population fell by 1.2 percent (SCMP) over the past year, furthering the reversal of a growth trend from 2003 to 2020. One official said pandemic travel restrictions were partly to blame, while a population expert at the University of Hong Kong said people might be leaving because of diminishing freedoms.
China: The construction of coal-powered steel mills in China sped up (FT) in the first half of 2021, making it likely that the steel sector will miss a target of keeping emissions at its 2020 levels, according to the watchdog Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. A new UN climate report found that such emissions will have to drop sharply to avoid the worst trajectories for global warming.
