Date: January 13, 2009 (Tuesday)
Time: 12:30 – 14:00 (sandwich lunch from 12:30 –12:45; seminar begins at 12:45)
Venue: Seminar Room 5, LG1/F, Laboratory Block, Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Abstract:
Dr Quentin Chiotti has an international reputation for having a pristine environment, with comparatively clean lands, water and air. While Canada’s air quality is comparatively good, air pollution is nonetheless a serious health problem with an estimated 21,000 persons dying prematurely each year across the country. This presentation looks at the current state of air quality in Canada and the types of regulations, policies, instruments and tools used to combat air pollution at different spatial scales, with emphasis on recent developments in setting emission reduction targets and deploying a health risk based advisory system. A number of initiatives have been implemented both Federally and Provincially, including bi-national agreements, emission reduction targets, and stringent sulphur levels in fuels, but air pollution continues to pose significant health risks in most densely populated regions of Canada. While attempts have continued to be made to reduce emissions from transboundary, point and mobile sources, in recent years there have also been significant efforts to improve risk based tools, specifically the Air Quality Health Based Index (AQHI). The AQHI has been piloted in a number of communities including Toronto, and plans are underway to roll out the index throughout Ontario and Canada. The history and merits of the AQHI are presented, including gaps and challenges (e.g. rural versus urban health risks). The applicability of the AQHI to Hong Kong is also discussed.

Bio-sketch:
Dr Chiotti (Ph. D., UWO Geography) joined the Pollution Probe in 2002 and was appointed the Climate Change Programme Director and Senior Scientist in April 2007. He has worked extensively in the area of climate change since 1993, including working for the Adaptation and Impacts Research Group of the Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada (1995-2002). From 1998 to 2002, he was the scientific authority for an Environment Canada led multi-stakeholder study on atmospheric change in the Toronto-Niagara Region. He has published over 40 articles in scholarly journals and books, including co-editing a book on agricultural restructuring and sustainability, and was a contributor to the Canada Country Study, the first national assessment on climate change impacts and adaptation. He has been the co-lead author for the Ontario chapter of the 2007 national assessment on climate change impacts and adaptation. Dr. Chiotti has taught at various Universities across Canada (University of Guelph, Carleton University, The University of Lethbridge, and the University of Toronto), and currently represents Pollution Probe on over a dozen environment-related advisory boards and committees, including the Base metals Environmental Multi-stakeholder Advisory Group (BEMAG), the Clean Air Foundation, the Canadian Climate Impacts and Adaptation Network (Ontario), and the Environment and Food Committee of the Laidlaw Foundation.

Presentation file