Plan to give Hong Kong world-class air quality in 7 years
But they caution some pollutants will persist even after new standards are introduced
Top officials yesterday unveiled a seven-year plan to cut Hong Kong's notorious roadside air pollution, while admitting some of the targets might be hard to meet.
Billed as an air-quality roadmap to 2020, the plan says that if all measures are fully introduced, roadside pollution will begin to drop in the next two to three years, and see significant improvement in four to five.
But the officials admitted that the level of nitrogen dioxide, the dominant pollutant, will remain almost double the new standards to be introduced next year despite a 40 per cent drop.
"Our goal is for Hong Kong to be among the best in the world in understanding air quality so that we can continue to fight air pollution aggressively," Environment Secretary Wong Kam-sing said.
Our goal is for Hong Kong to be among the best in the world in understanding air quality so that we can continue to fight air pollution aggressively
He was joined at a press conference by Transport Minister Anthony Cheung Bing-leung and senior officials from the bureaus for development and food and health in a move Wong said showed co-operation and commitment across government.