by Nishika Patel

The initial findings of a long-awaited public consultation on air pollution reveal that tens of thousands of people support mandatory action for schemes such as road pricing.

Speaking to The Standard ahead of an official report to be released within weeks, Chandran Nair, convenor of the Better Air Quality Engagement Process, said the public was more willing to accept compulsory schemes, compared to vested interests that include business and industry.

The Council for Sustainable Development, which carried out the survey, was set up by the government as an independent advisory body.

"We found that, among the vested interests, there's a sort of concern about anything mandatory."

"This is why we went out to the public - people are more willing to accept mandatory schemes, but most important they want action. There are concerns about the cost though."

The survey has attracted tens of thousands of respondents from the public, business and government, who were broadly asked about road pricing, energy consumption and what to do on days of high air pollution through on- line and mailed questionnaires as well as forums.

The preliminary results also found that people wanted a color-coded alert system for bad pollution days and advanced notice about poor air days. The public also supported mandatory eco- labeling of electrical products and energy-efficiency schemes. Nair said the public's call for mandatory action showed voluntary schemes do not work.

"Industry always wants voluntary schemes, but they do not work. Industry is not able to monitor itself as there's too much vested interest. The government is meant to protect the common good and there's tension between common good and rights of industry and individuals. So inevitably when you come to the wider environment, voluntary action doesn't work," he said.

The scale of the feedback has been unprecedented, particularly compared to surveys on Hong Kong's political reform, which usually receives about 5,000 respondents. The council has set a target of 100,000.

"These are large numbers compared to anything ever. This is a record in Hong Kong and a case study for international engagement given the population of Hong Kong. There are very few cities in the world that would get this turnout," Nair said. The council will draw up recommendations based on the feedback, which will be presented to the chief executive in January or February.