Some of our long term campaigns

Campaign for Smoky vehicle fines (year 2000)

In 2000, CTA successfully obtained the cancellation of the deferment of a smoky vehicle fine, requested by a few legislators. Through heavy campaigning of the majority of Legislative Council members, the smoky vehicle fine became enforceable immediately after the Bill passed Legco.

Campaign for Tobacco Free workplaces : (2003-2008)

Since the SARS crisis (2003), CTA has been involved in its Tobacco Free workplaces, advocating the need to curb tobacco in public areas including bars and restaurants, arguing on the following facts: 1) tobacco smoke in confined areas harms everyone as surely as carbon dioxide emissions do. 2) staff working in smoky places are unjustly exposed to harmful pollutants everyday without recourse for compensations nor rights to clean air.

Through a heavy campaigning on locations, followed by research on best practices overseas, relevant information on medical and social facts have been supplied on a regular basis to Government officials and legislators in the last 3 years running up to the legislation enacted in 2008. In July 2009 the anti-smoking law became enforceable across the Hong Kong SAR for all public places, on par with other Asian and western nations.

Campaign for better Town Planning : (2005)

In its effort to improve urban air quality in densely built areas, CTA identified and advocated one major obstacle to maintaining clean air in urban settings; namely: the street Canyon Effect. Defined as a configuration where the height of the surrounding buildings is at least twice the width of the road, a Canyon Effect does exist, which prevents the dispersion of air pollution and encourage a build-up. During the year 2005 CTA strongly advocated the need to mitigate the effect of street canyons (which encourage this build up of air pollution created on the ground by constant road traffic), by proposing the following solutions: bus route rationalization, electronic road pricing, and low density development areas. CTA’s views and proposals on this topic appeared numerous times in the local media throughout 2005.

Campaign about cleaning up power plants : (2005-2009)

Since 2005 Clear The Air has been insisting at Legco, in the media and with government departments to implement measures to clean up the emissions of our two coal burning power providers, CLP and Hong Kong Electric. The installation of FGD (flue gas desulphuriazation) equipment aiming at reducing the emissions of sulphur dioxide from these power plants, has been under way for almost two years. Meanwhile further studies have highlighted the persistent emissions of fine particulate matters smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, called PM 2.5. To cut down their emissions mainly causing poor visibility, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, Clear The Air actively supports the installation of agglomerators, the only equipment on the market able to drastically cut down the release into our air of these harmful pollutants.

Campaign about Idling Engines : (2005-2009)

Further to CTA’s work on the Canyon Effect campaign, it appeared that another major source of constant air pollution on the roadside was coming from idling engines of any vehicles, be that cars, vans, coaches, and trucks. CTA implemented with a few volunteers in 2005 the first street patrols in Hong Kong which politely asked drivers to turn off their idling engines. A bilingual sign was handed over to them showing: 請關掉引擎. The campaign gained in popularity in 2006 and 2007 to include more volunteers helping in street patrols and subsequent press exposure in the Chinese, English, and TV media. A public consultation result on this issue has been briefed in Legco in May 2008, followed by stakeholders panel meeting in Jan 2009.

 

Funding

Clear the Air is a volunteer group, entirely supported by individual membership fees and member donations.

Clear the Air was registered as a Society on 10 December 1997 in response to increasing air pollution.

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爭氣行動 - Our Chinese Name

爭氣 means "fighting for air".

It also means "live up to others' expectations".

行動 means "Action".

So our name suggests that we must "Act now - fight for better air" and also Act now to meet others expectations.

Our English Name

"Clear The Air" is an English phrase that means to eliminate confusion, dispel controversy or emotional tension. It was originally used for storms that blew away hot, humid weather bringing fresh, clean air.

Our Logo

Arguably the most universal of all traffic symbols – the “no” sign, combines with a gas mask in a tongue-in-cheek play on the poor air quality of Hong Kong: you need to wear a gas mask to breathe clean air in this city!

Breathing clean air is an unalienable right we all have, and should demand. The logo symbolizes a stop to needing to use gas masks, or a stop to the problem of poor air quality in Hong Kong.