Submission to the Subcommittee on Issues Relating to Air , Noise and Light Pollution on " Air Pollution Modelling in Hong Kong

We welcome the Subcommittee’s review of “Air Pollution Modelling in Hong Kong”. Hong Kong’s air quality is a topic of great public concern. The lack of progress in improving air quality has led many to question the effectiveness of our air quality management system. Most people understand that air quality modelling is important for our air quality management system because of its role in air quality impact assessment. However, not many people understand the details of air quality modelling as modelling is relatively technical and complicated. Hence, most people prefer to treat it as a black box. People don’t like black boxes, particularly when our air quality management system does not seem to be working. Therefore, there have been growing concerns about of the accuracy and application of air quality models in Hong Kong.