Civic Exchange has recently launched a new report entitled ''A Price Worth Paying: The Case for Controlling Marine Emissions in the Pearl River Delta'' Supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, this report represents a joint-effort by Civic Exchange, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's Fok Ying Tung Graduate School Atmospheric Research Center (HKUST) and The University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health (HKU).
Civic Exchange initiated a series of collaborative evidence-based research on air pollution and public health with HKUST and HKU in the past five years. In this report, HKUST laid the foundation by conducting the first-ever activity-based emissions inventory of ocean-going vessels (OGVs) across the whole Pearl River Delta (PRD). HKU built on this information and made the first-ever assessment of the impacts of emissions from ocean-going vessels on the health of the population in each prefecture of the PRD, Hong Kong and Macau.
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) is a region with a single airshed, but differentadministrative and legal practices for controlling air quality. Under the Regional Cooperation Plan on Building a Quality Living Area (QLA Plan) released in June 2012, the Governments of Hong Kong, Guangdong and Macau have outlined a strategy to collaborate in reducing emissions from vessels throughout the PRD.
This report provides evidence designed to assist policymakers in the region with this objective. It focuses on regulating toxic exhaust emissions from ocean-going vessels (OGVs) - the most significant contributors of marine emissions.
The findings show that marine sources of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions currently account for 519 premature deaths per annum in the PRD. These deaths could be reduced by 91% should an Emission Control Area (ECA) mandating the use of fuels with lower sulphur content be introduced. The report also demonstrates that three less comprehensive control measures would also reduce OGV emissions and associated public health impacts by 41-62%. Policymakers are encouraged to introduce these measures as stepping-stones on the way to establishment of an ECA for the PRD.
You may download the Report and find more details at Civic Exchange
Source: Civic Exchange