Incheon's air pollution reduction policy is showing clear results in the first half of this year, putting the city on course to meet its annual emissions target.
According to Incheon Metropolitan City, a review of first-half air quality improvement performance found that pollutant emissions stood at just 32 percent of the annual quota, and the city expects to comfortably achieve its full-year reduction goal.
This year, the city assigned an annual emissions quota of 10,933 metric tons of air pollutants to 13 major industrial facilities in the region — including power generation, oil refining and steelmaking companies — with a target of cutting an additional 548 metric tons, or more than 5 percent of the quota.
Actual first-half emissions totaled 3,552 metric tons, equivalent to 32 percent of the annual quota. The city said that if the current pace of reductions is maintained in the second half, the annual target can be met with room to spare.
Last year, facilities participating in the agreement emitted 4,239 metric tons — 36 percent below their quota — exceeding the target.
The results have been underpinned by proactive environmental investment aimed at cutting air pollution.
Some 92.5 billion won ($64.9 million) went to environmental improvement projects in the first half alone, representing 59 percent of the full-year investment plan of 157 billion won, with funds deployed ahead of schedule.
Concentrated efforts to upgrade air pollution control facilities, improve operational efficiency, and implement seasonal fine-dust management and emergency reduction measures all contributed to greater pollutant cuts.
"Incheon is an industrial city with a dense concentration of national industrial complexes, ports and power generation facilities, which makes sustained efforts to improve air quality all the more important," said Jeong Seung-hwan, director of Incheon's Environment Bureau. "We will push ahead without delay with the 2025–2029 air environment management implementation plan and focus our administrative resources on creating clean air that citizens can actually feel."
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
