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The Year in Air Pollution

With 2011 only a few hours away, it’s a good time to recap last year’s achievements and next year’s challenges.

In late March, a giant sandstorm from northern China caused levels of particulate matter (PM) to reach record levels in Hong Kong. Hong Kong’s API readings hit 500 and even exceeded the monitoring technology’s limitations. The dust cloud caused levels of PM to exceed 700 micrograms per cubic meter. This is over 14 times higher than the annual level of 50 micrograms per cubic meter suggested by the World Health Organization’s Air Quality Guidelines. However, experts remarked that living in a persistently high pollution environment actually poses a greater threat to one’s health.

The threat is so serious that in late April one of Hong Kong’s leading authorities on air quality and public health, Professor Anthony Hedley, left Hong Kong in order to avoid its polluted air and recover from severe health and respiratory problems. It is indeed a sad irony that one of the people most committed to alleviating Hong Kong’s air pollution problem had to leave the city for such a reason.

Soon after, the Environmental Protection Department introduced the Motor Vehicle Idling (Fixed Penalty) Bill to LegCo. The Bill requires drivers to switch off their engines while their vehicles are stationary on roads or in a car park. CAN successfully lobbied doctors and schools to speak up for the Bill from a public health perspective. Unfortunately, after months of deliberation, the bill was emasculated by transport interests in the Legislative Council. CAN and other environmental groups have decided not to deplete valuable political capital on this bill, choosing instead to focus on measures which have a greater chance of significantly benefiting public health, such as the clean-up of commercial diesel vehicles.
During October’s policy address, Chief Executive Donald Tsang emphasized roadside pollution in Hong Kong as a serious problem and pledged to alleviate it. Measures he announced include:

• introducing environmental safeguards into franchise bus agreements when they come up for renewal;

• the government purchase of six trial hybrid buses;

• paying for the retrofit of all Euro II and Euro III buses to meet Euro IV emission standards;

• designating low-emission zones in busy districts in Hong Kong by 2015.

However, CAN thinks these actions are “too little too late” and will not tackle a major part of the problem – the approximately 35,000 old, very polluting pre-Euro and Euro I commercial diesel vehicles plying Hong Kong’s streets.

Given the inaction of the government, some major players in the private sector stepped into the leadership void. In November, the Hong Kong Liner Shipping Association announced the Fair Winds Charter – a voluntary charter under which international shipping companies will, when berthed in Hong Kong, use low-sulphur diesel fuel. Encouragingly, 17 lines out of the association’s 21 container shipping members agreed to be bound by the charter. The associations that signed the charter represent 80 percent of all international shipping traffic.

Towards the end of the year, Civic Exchange released a public opinion survey of 1,000 + residents, entitled “Less Talk, More Action.” The survey shows that one in four people are considering emigration in response to the public health threat posed by Hong Kong’s air pollution. This is up from one in five in December 2008, when a similar survey was conducted. Results also show that the most educated are the most likely to consider leaving.

But nothing was worse than Bloomberg’s terrifying wrap-up of Hong Kong’s air pollution situation published last week: Hong Kong’s 2010 roadside pollution levels are the worst on record since 1999. Roadside smog reached “very high” or “severe” levels on the city’s air pollution index at least 12.6 percent of the time this year, excluding December. This is compared with “very high” or “severe” roadside pollution recorded at monitoring stations 10.62 percent of the time during the whole of 2009.

The Year Ahead

Considering the monumental task of cleaning up Hong Kong’s air, we have a steep uphill climb ahead. But we can point to the following achievements in 2010:

• Substantially increased media coverage of the issue in all media, international and local. Hong Kong is now considered to have a pollution problem on par with that experienced by Mexico City and Los Angeles in previous decades, greatly increasing pressure on the government to deal with the issue;

• Mobilized heretofore reticent groups and organizations, such as students and doctors, to speak out about the need for clean air more vocally;

• Awakened the general public (see the Civic Exchange survey mentioned above) and, in the process, the Hong Kong Government to the very pressing issue of roadside pollution. Even though we consider the battery of franchised bus measures to be more PR than substance, the fact that the government is willing to spend money on pollution abatement retrofits and trial hybrid buses is still a hard-won political victory.

In 2011, we will focus our efforts on the following initiatives:

• Getting the government to announce new Air Quality Objectives, because standards are always the greatest drivers of change, in both business and policy;

• Cleaning up the large number of very old commercial diesel vehicles still on our streets which continue to disproportionately pollute our roadside air.

In order to meet these challenges, we will take a cue from the the international shipping industry and seek to educate and coordinate the environmental initiatives of polluting companies, while continuing our widespread educational campaign, which extends from public housing estates all over Hong Kong to CEOs’ offices. Finally, since we are a network, we will continue our efforts to consolidate and unify the messages of NGOs, political parties and other organizations, in order to send the government a coordinated message.

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so that they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong Air Pollution.

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events. Plese visit CAN at http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng

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On Monday, LegCo’s Environmental Affairs Panel discussed the establishment of the Pilot Green Transport Fund. LegCo member Tanya Chan suggested that environmental NGOs should have seats on the steering committee that will screen applications to the HK$300 million fund in order to make the committee more representative. However, the government only wants technocrats and experts on the committee. Chan reiterated that green groups should be included in order to keep the committee from becoming too biased in favor of transport sector interests. Please read here for the summary of the meeting.

We were shocked to see the appearance of a CNNGo blog post by James Durston entitled, “Stop whining about Hong Kong’s air pollution! ” Not only does the writer misunderstand the most dangerous sources of Hong Kong’s air pollution (i.e., our own vehicles), but we have to question CNNGo’s editorial judgment for publishing a piece which encourages the public to ignore Hong Kong’s biggest public health problem. Presumably, Durston doesn’t yet have a child who has begun wheezing and coughing because of the city’s terrible air pollution?

This week, CAN released the complete version of CANair, CAN’s first iPhone app. The app detects the user’s location via GPS then automatically shows real-time measurements of four air pollutants – nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone and sulphur dioxide – from the nearest EPD monitor, comparing current levels to the WHO Air Quality Guidelines. In addition, a pop-up pollution alert is sent to the user any time the Hong Kong API exceeds 100.

All of us at CAN wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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New survey shows that 1 of 4 Hong Kong residents is considering leaving Hong Kong because of air pollution

On Wednesday, Civic Exchange and we unveiled the results of a new survey of the general public including a large number of professional drivers, showing, among several findings:

Compared to 2008, a bigger percentage of Hong Kong’s most educated people are thinking about leaving because of air pollution, e.g., 52% of post-graduate degree holders; Hong Kong’s poor are willing to pay for air clean-up, just like the more affluent; Professional drivers are very aware of the occupational health hazards of their industry.

Op-Ed by Christine Loh: Breathe in, then out

In her op-ed for the SCMP today, Loh focuses on a crucial aspect of Civic Exchange’s just-unveiled survey — that 58% of Hong Kongers do not trust the Government to make air quality policy. Read the full piece here.

November: A Deadly Month

This past month, Hong Kong experienced 25 days of the Air Pollution Index

surpassing the Government’s warning threshold of 100. In comparison, last November, Hong Kong saw “only” 11 API alert days. There’s plenty of reason to be concerned that November was not an aberration since, at this time of the year, most of our pollution (as opposed to spring and summer) does come from China and China is experiencing record levels of pollution. For example, Shanghai and Beijing
have been experiencing the worst pollution in years recently, leading even to the cancellation of school sporting activities in the latter.

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so that they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong Air Pollution.

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events. Plese visit CAN at http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng

Learn more about air pollution: watch and share this video.

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SCMP: Why do we hold our breath over clean air?

In an op-ed piece this week, CAN CEO, Joanne Ooi, highlighted how the EPD’s failure, to date, to announce new AQOs is due to a lack of leadership more than anything else. She ridiculed the EPD for seeking support from polluting companies in advance of announcing any new air quality standards or measures. It’s no wonder there are no AQOs yet. Fed up with the government’s inaction, some groups have taken matters into their own hands. Click here
for the full article.

NEXT TUESDAY, November 30th: Complain about the EPD to the Office of the Ombudsman!

In light of the long overdue announcement of new AQOs, Friends of the Earth and CAN, among other green groups, are jointly filing a complaint about the EPD’s inaction in regard to acting upon the recommendations compiled during last year’s public consultation about air quality. On Nov 30th, NEXT TUESDAY, exactly one year after the close of the public consultation, we’re inviting members of the public to file their own personal complaint about how their health has been compromised because of the EPD’s continuing delay on actioning the recommendations made during the consultation. Join us at 1:30 pm at the Ombudsman’s office next Tuesday. We are also recruiting patients and victims of air pollution via Facebook
to make a statement on that day about how their health has suffered as a result of the government’s delay. Click here for more details of the event.

CAN’s deputation on Hong Kong’s Climate Change Strategy

CAN presented its deputation in LegCo today regarding the HKSAR’s climate change strategy. Considering that many of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions are sources of air pollution, we believe that measures tackling climate change can also relieve the problem of air pollution, thus killing two birds with one stone. CAN recommends eliminating the most polluted vehicles and creating more incentives to adopt green transport as two of the most crucial ways forward. You can access our deputation here.

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so that they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong Air Pollution.

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events. Plese visit CAN at http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng

Learn more about air pollution: watch and share this video.

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“Why I Love Air Pollution” One Minute Film Festival

Watch this video
for some inspiration and a laugh! This is CAN’s most recent entry in the One Minute Film Festival. In the contest, themed “Why I Love Air Pollution”, we are encouraging an unconventional and humorous treatment of air pollution in order to broaden the audience for this issue. Please join us by submitting an entry. Don’t worry, your video doesn’t have to look like it was made by a crack professional. Funny is good enough! The deadline is December 3d and the ten best films will earn a spot on the big screen at the Grand Cinema, Elements Mall, on Dec. 10. Click here to join the contest now!

Year-on-year (YOY) API comparisons for September, October and November

In light of recent days’ roadside API being constantly over 100, CAN did a YOY comparison of exceedances at all monitoring stations. We observed that, although Oct 2010 was better than last year, September and November 2010 (up to November 14) were MUCH worse, especially at the roadside. For example, this November, the average API of Central Roadside was 115 compared to 85 for the same period last year. Furthermore, in November, there were 2 to 6 times more days with exceedances at all roadside stations. Click here to see the full table.

CSR Wednesday, December 1st: Maersk & CAN

CAN’s CEO, Joanne Ooi, has been invited to give a talk on “Air pollution in Hong Kong – Time for business to take initiative” together with Tim Smith, North Asia CEO of Maersk Line. They will talk about the key impacts of air pollution in Hong Kong and, through examples, illustrate how business is both a contributor to the problem as well as a significant stakeholder in implementing solutions.The talk will take place at Disney, 20/F, Shell Tower, Time Square, Causeway Bay from 6:00pm and 7:30pm. On-site registration will start at 5:45pm. Please click here for full details.

NEW Research: Traffic-related air pollution causes skin to age faster

Long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to the accelerated development of, in particular, pigment spots, according to a recent study from researchers in Germany. Click here to read the full report.

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CAN at the Soho Street Fair

This weekend from 1pm – 8pm, CAN will have a booth at the Soho Community Bazaar
selling our trademark “Born in Hong Kong” t-shirts, alongside 75 local artists, small businesses and non profits. Live entertainment will be provided by The Venetian Macao Resort Hotels and Cirque du Soleil. There is also a designated “Kids Zone” for children to play games. For adults, participating Soho restaurants & bars are offering a Wine Walk on from 2pm – 6pm. Please drop by and buy a CAN tee. (Hint: they make great Christmas presents at $90 each.)

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so that they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong Air Pollution.

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events. Plese visit CAN at http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng

Learn more about air pollution: watch and share this video.

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C-40: World cities share best practices on how to encourage adoption of EVs

The C-40 Climate Leadership workshop took place in Hong Kong last week. Thirty cities attended and shared their knowledge on how to build cities with greener transportation systems. Click here to read more about the strategies being pursued in some of the world’s leading cities.

Miriam Lau: Get rid of the oldest, most polluting trucks and introduce electric vehicles

LegCo Member from the Transport Sector, Miriam Lau, wrote last Friday in Sing Pao that the Liberal Party is urging the Government to mitigate roadside air pollution immediately. She suggested that more electric minibuses and buses be introduced into HK. Also, in order to get the most polluting trucks off our roads, she recommended that the government offer a subsidy based on the undepreciated value of each vehicle, in order to encourage owners to scrap their pre-Euro and Euro I vehicles. Read the full article here. (Chinese)

Lau’s ideas coincide with CAN’s position. We believe that a scrapping incentive is the most effective way to get the oldest, most polluting trucks retired; the government now needs to shift its focus to old commercial diesel vehicles.

CAN’s backgrounder on commercial diesel vehicles in Hong Kong

Did you know that Hong Kong’s 41,072 trucks contribute 50% and 55% of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and 55% of Particulate Matter (PM), respectively? And that the oldest trucks contribute a grossly disproportionate share of that pollution? To learn more about the air pollution from commercial diesel vehicles and how this kind of pollution should be tackled, read CAN’s backgrounder on the topic.

If you enjoy this newsletter, share it with friends so that they can benefit from the latest news about Hong Kong Air Pollution.

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events. Plese visit CAN at http://www.hongkongcan.org/eng

Learn more about air pollution: watch and share this video.

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