Is a political will of the Government needed in improving the air quality？

Emma Yun-zhi HUANG（黄韵芝）

【Abstract】Air pollution is becoming a serious public health problem in China， especially in better socio-economic status area （i.e.， Hong Kong）. It needs a political will for the Government to improve the air quality.

【Key words】Air pollution， Government， socio-economic status

Introduction

In recent years， air pollution has been aggravated. Health experts estimate that the deteriorating of air quality will lead to more than 2 billion HK dollar of socio-economic loss annually in Hong Kong. Including loss of 1.5 billion of medical costs， 500 million productivity loss and 1，900 million invisible costs such as illness and death paid.

Excluding the influence of the pollutant emitted in Dongguan， Shenzhen and eastern Pearl River Delta， there are 3 important sectors which impact on the air quality of HK most： power plants， manufacturing establishments， and transport.1

Association between environment and socio-economic development

The energy sources service humans needs and can protect and enhance humans health in many ways. According to a research， there are 1.6 billion people in the world who exposed to adverse health risks because of lack of access to electricity. 2 For the other hand， energy contributed a lot for the countries development. The history told us that the use of energy could help countries to develop their manufacturing， so that provided many work opportunities and improved the socio-economic status （SES） of people who lived there. The SES improved can also improve the access to the health service and better medical equipment.

However， the excess use of energy， pollutant from the power plants and manufactories， excessive vehicle exhaust emissions make people in HK living in hazy days. In addition， the street canyon effect in HK potentiates pollutant build-up in the peak traffic period. 1 The air pollution in HK is bringing some negative economic consequences， and HKs company difficult to recruit overseas staff because of the low air quality. They all make the SES deceased.

Energy sources can improved SES， but at the same time， the pollutant which produced by excessively using energy can deteriorate air quality， at last cause SES deceased. So how to avoid air pollution and develop SES synchronously， it needs a well concerned from the government.

Improve the air quality， also improve the SES

Year 1987， the concept of Sustainable Development emitted for the first time in the report of "Our Common Future" from the World Commission on Environment and Development， and it immediately gained a broad consensus from the international community. Sustainable Development refers to not only meet the need of present， but also not to compromise future generations to meet their own needs. It needs a full integration of economic， social development and environmental protection.

The air pollution in HK mostly comes from vehicles exhaust. Reducing vehicle emissions pollution， the key is to improve the combustion engine design and improve the quality of the combustion of gasoline so that the petrol can be full of burning， and harmful emissions can be reduced. Another way to reduce vehicles exhaust is to advocate people to use public transport instead of private cars. So built a comprehensive coverage of transport networks can be a good way to increase usage of public transport. Reduction of air pollution， can improve the air quality， and the surroundings can be healthier， the cost of health care can be reduced， so the SES can be increased as consequence.

Conclusion

No matter to build the public transport networks， or rational distribution of industry， or fully concerned about the Sustainable Development， they all need to be drawn up and implemented by the government. Because only the government can fully use the resources， have the power to deploy resources and establish and implement policy effectively. Improving the environment does not mean to stop developing SES， oppositely， better environment can help better socio-economic development.

Reference

[1] Anthony J Hedley， Sarah M McGhee， Chit Ming Wong， Bill Barron， Patsy Chau， June Chau， Thuan Q Thach， Tze Wai Wong， Christine Loh， June 2006， AIR POLLUTION： COSTS AND PATHS TO A SOLUTION Understanding the connection between visibility， air pollution and health costs in pursuit of accountability， environmental justice and health protection， 9-11.

[2] Paul Wilkinson， Kirk R Smith， Michael Joffe， Andrew Haines， A global perspective on energy： health effects and injustices， Energy and Health 1， September 15， 2007， Vol 370， 965-966.