Too many cars in Hong Kong make it difficult to cut levels of roadside pollution

The air quality in Hong Kong has undeniably improved in the last few years due to numerous emission reduction measures launched by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD).

However, your correspondent makes a critical point based on personal experience, that the air quality remains unsatisfactory and existing measures to tackle pollution are still inadequate. According to the University of Hong Kong’s Hedley Environmental Index, five people die every day in Hong Kong because of air pollution.

The 2018 clean air plan is unlikely to make much progress if the government continues to lack the political commitment to make significant improvements. Due to the fact that​ the current concentration of PM2.5 fine particulate matter has already achieved World Health Organisation (WHO) interim target two (IT-2), with PM10 reaching IT-3, officials ​do not need to promise any progressive measures to attain such levels.

It is still unclear if the administration will take further measures to improve on these statistics.

Speaking at a public engagement forum, EPD ­deputy director, Alice Cheung, said: “It would be practicable to first evaluate the feasibility of measures by the other departments, before deciding on the new standard for the objectives.”