Efforts will be stepped up to foster community support and awareness of sustainable development principles, with outreach and engagement programmes to be enriched in the coming two years, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang says.

Mr Tsang, who is also the Council for Sustainable Development Chairman, said after today's meeting that the move will help encourage greater stakeholders' participation in setting a sustainable agenda for Hong Kong.

The council's report on the engagement process, together with the first Sustainable Development Strategy for Hong Kong on waste management, renewable energy and urban living space, will be rolled out before June. Another round of the engagement process will then start in the middle of this year, with stakeholders taking part in selecting the new priority areas for the strategy.

Council members agreed at the meeting to put more emphasis on promoting best practices in sustainable development and reaching out to young people, especially when taking forward the Sustainable Development Strategy. In-depth studies on special sustainability issues will be considered.

Current practices aimed at ensuring the transparency of the council's work will also continue, and be extended where appropriate.