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Written by: Golden Chess
2021-06-29 21:52
Last update date: 2021-06-29 21:53
The Environment Bureau's new "Hong Kong Clean Air Blueprint" was released today (29th), which set the goal of becoming a livable city with air quality comparable to major international cities by 2035.
The Secretary of the Environment Huang Jinxing said that Hong Kong is better than many Asian cities, similar to Singapore and Taipei, but slightly inferior to Tokyo. He hopes to catch up with Tokyo and Paris in 2035.
How far is the air quality of Hong Kong from Tokyo and Paris?
According to the EU's air quality indicators followed by Taiwan, Japan and France, the EU standards are the closest to the World Health Organization's final target; and Hong Kong's current standards have many items that have not reached the WHO's final target.
According to the survey of fine suspended particles (PM2.5) in different cities around the world last year, the higher the concentration of PM2.5, the higher the ranking. Hong Kong ranks the highest among cities such as Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo.
▼On June 29, the Environment Bureau announced the "Hong Kong Clean Air Blueprint 2035"▼
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Huang Jinxing: There is no city in the world according to the WHO guidelines
According to the "Hong Kong Clean Air Blueprint", the ultimate goal is to make air quality meet the final targets of the World Health Organization's Air Quality Guidelines, but Huang Jinxing did not respond to the target implementation date.
Hong Kong’s air quality indicators will be updated on January 1 next year, which will be close to the WHO’s final target. However, in terms of current indicators, only three of the seven air pollutant standards have fully met the WHO’s final target. The current standards of PM2.5 and PM2.5 only meet the minimum requirements of the WHO's mid-term goals.
Huang Jinxing emphasized that currently no city can fully comply with the World Health Organization's Air Quality Guidelines. He hopes that by 2035, it will be able to "shoulder international", catch up with Tokyo and Paris, and become an international city with good air quality.
(Hong Kong 01 drawing)
The annual average concentration of PM2.5 in Tokyo is close to the WHO's final target
However, according to the 2020 Global Air Quality Report published by the Swiss air monitoring company "IQAir" and the environmental group Greenpeace, the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in the air in Hong Kong is 15.4 micrograms per cubic meter, which is 53% in 92 cities.
Taipei, Paris, France, Singapore, and Tokyo, Japan ranked 64, 65, 66, and 72 respectively. Among them, the annual average PM2.5 concentration of Tokyo is 10.1 micrograms per cubic meter, which is close to the WHO's final target of 10 micrograms per cubic meter, which is also in the top five. Among the cities mentioned by Huang Jinxing, the annual average concentration of PM2.5 is the lowest.
In addition, according to the air quality indicators of various cities, the EU air quality indicators followed by France are generally the closest to the WHO final indicators; while the Tokyo nitrogen dioxide (NO2) hourly standard is more stringent than the WHO final indicators; and Taipei and Hong Kong are close and still have a distance from the WHO's final target.
Environmental groups criticize the Hong Kong government for not meeting the standards
The environmental protection group Healthy Air Action responded to criticism. The Blueprint did not propose a specific timetable to specify when Hong Kong's air quality will reach the final WHO target. This is deeply disappointed, and the authorities should take more aggressive measures to speed up the pace. Improve air pollution problems.
Another environmental group, Green Earth, believes that the authorities lack determination. The "Blueprint" neither proposes a timetable for air quality levels to reach the WHO's final target, nor does it have active countermeasures to suppress respirable suspended particles and the increasing ozone concentration. Let Hong Kong people continue to suffer from pollution and give people the feeling of "writing a bad check."
Six major actions in the new "Hong Kong Clean Air Blueprint".
(Screenshot of "Blueprint")
Environmental Bureau, Air Pollution, Air Quality, Huang Jinxing