Hong Kong's air pollution reaches record high

70% of Hong Kong respondents in an April Gallup survey showed dissatisaction with their air quality.

The city’s Air Pollution Index was “very high” at roadsides for 9.5 percent of the hours recorded in July, August and the first two weeks of September, government data indicated. With all three monitoring stations climbing to those levels on Monday, Hong Kong is set to outdo the previous third-quarter record for very high pollution, 8.2 percent of recorded hours in 2004.

Hong Kong’s General Chamber of Commerce called for “decisive” government action in Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s policy address to tackle the issue. Hong Kong ranked 71st in a survey this year of livable cities, compared with 28th for rival financial hub Singapore, with pollution bringing its score down, according to Mercer Consulting, a unit of New York-based insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos.

“There’s no doubt that roadside pollution is getting worse,” said Prentice Koo, a spokesman for the environmental pressure group Greenpeace in Hong Kong. “Much stronger measures need to be introduced to solve this,” he said.

View the full report in Bloomberg.