This Sept 17, 2020 aerial photo shows the Houhai area in Nanshan District of Shenzhen, Guangdong province. CHEN YEHUA XINHUA HONG KONG Air quality in the Pearl River Delta region saw continuous improvement in 2021, according to a report released by Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions on Wednesday.
The average annual concentrations of monitoring of carbon monoxide and fine suspended particulates decreased by 18 percent and 28 percent in 2021, compared to 2015, the report showed.
In comparison to 2006, the average annual concentrations of sulphur dioxide, respirable suspended particulates and nitrogen dioxide decreased by 84 percent, 45 percent and 40 percent in 2021, according to a government press release.
The average annual concentration of ozone increased by 34 percent in 2021, compared with that in 2006, indicating that further alleviation of regional photochemical pollution is needed.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Pearl River Delta Regional Air Quality Monitoring Network, which came up with the report, was launched in November 2005 and has 23 stations monitoring six major air pollutants.
The Guangadong and the HKSAR governments are conducting a study on post- 2020 regional air pollution reduction targets and concentration levels with a view to formulating air pollution reduction targets for 2025 and 2030.
READ MORE: HK, Guangdong to set up a new environment study team.
The governments of Macao, Hong Kong and Guangdong have launched a three-year study from 2021 to 2024 on Characterisation of Photochemical Ozone Formation, Regional and Super-Regional Transportation in the Greater Bay Area to study the details of the origins of ozone precursors, their formation mechanism and regional and super-regional transportation characteristics in the Bay Area.
To improve air quality, the Hong Kong government has implemented various air pollution control measures on marine and land transport, power plants and non-road mobile machinery.
In 2021 it announced the Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles, the Clean Air Plan for Hong Kong 2035 and Hong Kong's Climate Action Plan 2050 and a variety of measures to achieve zero vehicular emissions and carbon neutrality in Hong Kong before the year 2050.
The government of HKSAR is implementing measures to promote electric vehicles and other new-energy vehicles, green transport, zero-carbon energy and other environmental protection measures to this end.
Guangdong also took forward the electrification of public transport, enhanced the emission control of in-use diesel vehicles by strengthening the site inspection of large vehicle fleets and delineating restricted areas for smoky vehicles, and continued to take forward the construction of the Air Ground Vehicle People integrated monitoring system, according to the press release.
All cities in the province have completed the delineation of restricted areas for high-emission non-road mobile machinery, established a joint prevention and control mechanism for illegal oil rectification, and fully supplied gasoline and diesel for vehicles with the National VI standards.