Cleaner air: Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Dr Sarah Liao says Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments' cooperation to improve the Pearl River Delta's regional air quality has achieved satisfactory progress. Looking on is Guangdong's Environmental Protection Bureau director Li Qing.

The Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments together have made satisfactory progress in improving the Pearl River Delta's regional air quality, Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Dr Sarah Liao says.

"Both Guangdong and Hong Kong share the efforts of the important task of improving the regional air quality, striving to protect public health and achieving the goal of sustainable development," she said, adding that both agree a quality environment will greatly improve the image of the two places.

Dr Liao was speaking at a press briefing after the fifth meeting of the Hong Kong-Guangdong Joint Working Group on Sustainable Development and Environmental Protection, which was held today in Hong Kong.

New panel to promote energy saving

Guangdong's Environmental Protection Bureau Director Li Qing said the two governments shared the aspiration to improve the regional air quality.

The Guangdong Provincial Government will continue to implement the Pearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Management Plan in an attempt to achieve the emission targets with Hong Kong by 2010 as announced by the two governments in April 2002, he said.

Working group members discussed the progress of the implementation of the plan this year and devised a detailed action plan for 2005.

A new special panel, comprising members of Guangdong's Economic and Trade Commission, Hong Kong's Environment, Transport and Works Bureau and relevant departments of the two governments, will be set up to promote public education, energy-saving technology and clean production among the commercial and industrial sectors in the region.

The environmental protection departments of the two governments will start operating a monitoring network covering the entire region with 16 monitoring stations in the first quarter of 2005.

16 monitoring stations operational next quarter

Dr Liao said the 16 monitoring stations have already been set up in various areas in the Pearl River Delta representing different conditions, like urban areas with very heavy traffic and industrial areas suffering from industrial pollution.

She said the stations would monitor the pollution and see whether all the remediation or mitigation measures were actually taking effect. They would also help authorities to plan the next move in terms of improving air quality.

Subject to the operational situation of the monitoring network, a joint data centre will announce the monitoring results to the public as soon as possible.

On other measures to reduce air pollution, Dr Liao said there are plans for Guangdong to implement a whole network of light inter-city rail systems from Guangdong to Zhuhai to Fushan, which will alleviate the pressure to have more fossil fuel vehicles.

But she said the proposed trolley buses in Hong Kong would not be considered as they would have a negative visual impact on the city, adding clean fuel buses and improvement in emission-control technology would instead be explored for the public transport system.

The departments from both sides will also formulate a "2003 PRD Regional Emissions Inventory" based on the "Handbook on Preparation of Air Emissions Inventory in the Pearl River Delta Region" to evaluate the changes in the air pollutant emissions of Hong Kong and Guangdong since 1997.

The working group has also laid down a schedule for developing the Emission Trading Pilot Scheme for Fuel-burning Power Plants in the region, which will provide a study report to both governments by mid-2006 and present details of the Pilot Scheme to the power plants in both places so that prospective participants can identify their trading partners and draw up the emission trading agreements.