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Letter to the Editor of SCMP - Response to an editorial on air quality
I refer to your editorial dated 30 June 2010 titled “Government has duty to act on air quality”.
The Government is determined to take effective action to improve air quality and has been doing so. On the local front, we have been tightening the cap on the emissions of the power generation sector, implementing one of the most stringent standards for motor vehicle fuels and for the emissions of newly registered vehicles, offering incentives for the early replacement of old diesel commercial vehicles and the use of environmentally friendly vehicles, and taking strong action against smoky vehicles. On the regional front, we are working in concert with the Guangdong Government to reduce the emissions of four key air pollutants in the whole Pearl River Delta by 20% to 55% by 2010. The two governments have already embarked on studying the emissions reduction arrangement for post-2010.
To further improve our air quality, the Air Quality Objective Review has recommended 36 air quality improvement measures divided into three phases. Coupled with the continuous efforts in reducing regional emissions, the completion of the 19 Phase I measures will help us attain its proposed set of new Air Quality Objectives, which are largely comparable with those of the European Union.
The improvement measures proposed by the Review are in a wide range of areas. The community has different views on the implementation of some of these measures. Some measures may require a change in lifestyle or behaviour; some may entail additional expenses for individuals or businesses. Typical examples are the early replacement of the highly polluting commercial vehicles and the setting up of low emission zones. They can bring substantial improvement to roadside air quality but their implementation cannot be made without the support of the community. Time is thus needed to find a suitable way forward.
Noting the urgent need to take action, we have already taken forward those measures that the community will likely support. To this end, we have already expanded the controls on products containing volatile organic compounds, which are key precursors to the formation of photochemical smog, and introduced a one-off subsidy scheme to encourage the early replacement of Euro II diesel commercial vehicles,. We have also initiated the legislative process for implementing Building Energy Codes, extending the mandatory Energy Efficiency Labelling Scheme to other energy-consuming products, and introducing a ban on idling vehicles. Moreover, we are making preparations to implement a district cooling system in Kai Tak to provide energy-efficient air-conditioning services, further reduce emissions from the power generation sector and set up this fiscal year a HK$300 million Pilot Green Transport Fund to encourage early introduction of green transportation technology.
We will continue our efforts to take effective action to bring clean air to Hong Kong.
Mok Wai Chuen
Assistant Director (Air Policy)
Environmental Protection Department
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