Policy Comments & Advocacy

Green Power, a local charitable green group, has been monitoring the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) and the previous Air Pollution Index (API) data for over two decades. Enclosed with this letter is a brief report produced by Green Power regarding our AQHI analyses, i.e. A Brief Review of AQHI Data of Hong Kong for 2023.

From the past AQHI statistics provided by EPD for 15 General Air Quality Monitoring Stations (General Stations) during 2014-2023 (Table 1), both the total number of HR hours (hourly AQHI ≥7) and HR days (daily maximum AQHI ≥7) decreased from their top levels in 2014 and fluctuated considerably until 2020, and rebounded moderately in 2021 and 2022 before dropped to a low level in 2023 (Figure 1). Such trend in the past ten years revealed that the health risk of the public associated with air pollution has been moderated in recent years.

Central/Western ranked the fifth in 2023 in terms of annual total number of HR hours (hourly AQHI ≥7) and HR days (daily maximum AQHI ≥7) which are higher than the perceived polluting districts Kwun Tong, Sham Shui Po, Kwai Chung and Tsuen Wan (Table 1). As a central business district, Central/Western in this aspect was not particularly high amongst the 15 General Stations in ranking in early years. If its ranking or number of HR hours persist high in the following years, implementation of remedial measures, e.g. the proposed electronic road pricing, should be accelerated.

In 2023, four out of the top five districts in terms of total number of HR days (daily maximum AQHI ≥7) were all situated in the northern part of the New Territories (NT), namely Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Northern and Tung Chung (Table 1). Regarding the number of hours recorded AQHI reaching 10+, Yuen Long, Tuen Mun and Northern were the top three. The Administration should study the health risk associated with air quality in New Development Areas (NDAs) in the NT such as the Northern Metropolis during planning stage to maintain the sustainability of NDAs and protect the health of residents. More proactive measures should be introduced in addition to the proposed Environmentally Friendly Transport Services (EFTS).

Under climate change, the association of HR days with hot weather became more obvious in recent years. Hot weather condition favours the formation of ozone in the South China that attributed to most of the PHR in HR days in Hong Kong.

For any queries, please contact the undersigned at Green Power (T: 3961 0200, Fax: 2314 2661, Email: info@greenpower.org.hk)

Thank you very much for your kind attention. I look forward to the Administration’s policies to further relieve the health risk of the public associated with air quality.