Jennifer Duggan
The Guardian
June 18, 2013
Targets including 30% reduction in emissions from heavily polluting industries are to be introduced.
China’s cabinet has outlined measures aimed at improving the country’s air pollution problems, which have plagued many of its larger cities over recent years.
One of the main measures, announced in state media over the weekend, is a target to reduce emissions from heavily polluting industries by 30% by the end of 2017. In statement after a meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang, the State Council said there would be “tough measures for tough tasks”.
In January and February 2013 air pollution levels in the capitial Beijing and a number of other cities rose to what are believed to have been record levels. Dubbed the ‘airpocalypse’, Beijing was shrouded in a thick cloud of smog. On more than one occasion the US embassy in the city, which monitors air quality and publishes the results on a Twitter feed, described the levels as “beyond index”.
The new measures do not outline which industries would be included in the 30% target. However, in February in response to the air pollution crisis and a high level of public outcry, the government announced that six heavily polluting industries including iron and steel, cement and petrochemicals would have to comply with “special” emission limits from the start of March. Details of the limits were unclear.
Another of the new measures announced is to “enhance control” of PM2.5 pollution, which are fine particulates that measure less than 2.5 microns in diameter. The Chinese authorities only started to measure this type of pollution in Beijing in October 2012. This type of pollution is considered particularly dangerous to health as the fine particles can lodge deep within the lungs and enter the bloodstream. The statement said that a ranking of air quality in major cities should be made public.
Ten measures were outlined by the State Council including: Emergency response plans to be carried out by local governments during periods of bad pollution which include restricting traffic and limiting emissions from industry. “Strict controls” for heavily polluting industries that are looking to expand. Ensuring that construction projects pass environmental evaluations before they are given permission to go ahead.
Previously concerns have been raised about the enforcement of environmental policies and regulations by local officials. Under the new measures, the State Council said that local governments will be held accountable and their performance assessed on reducing air pollution.
The statement acknowledged that air pollution is an increasingly “conspicious and discussed problem”. It also stated that: “Curbing air pollution is a complicated and systematic project that requires long and arduous efforts.”
The Chinese administration under President Xi Jinping has pledged to deal with the problem of pollution. Earlier this in June, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli in a speech at the Fortune Global Forum in Chengdu said the government would take action, especially in relation to reducing PM2.5 pollution.
He said: “We will attach greater importance to addressing problems resulting from environmental pollution, and strike a proper balance between optimizing economic structure, boosting development that is driven by science and technological innovation, and conserving resources and protecting the environment. We are determined to make long-term and unremitting efforts to solve the problem.”
Meanwhile, Greenpeace has released results of tests they carried out earlier in 2013 on air pollution in Beijing to analyse what it contained. The analysis was carried out during one of the worst periods of air pollution in the capital. They found that the concentration of arsenic in the PM2.5 particles in Beijing’s air contained a concentration of arsenic that is “above the norm”.
The study found: the average daily concentration median of heavy metal arsenic in Beijing’s PM2.5 was 23.08 nanograms per metre cubed. According to Ambient Air Quality Standards issued in February 2012, the annual mean reference concentration limit value is 6 ng/m3, meaning the concentration detected during the course of this research is 3.85 times the limit. During heavy pollution days, the concentration median reached 34.68 ng/m3, and the highest average daily concentration during this period reached 70.91 ng/m3.
It also found that for four days during the 15-day testing period the concentration of cadmium rose above the annual limit value and two days in which lead concentration rose above the limit level.
Beijing did not fare well in comparison to other cities around the world: Compared to previous research, the arsenic concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing is constantly at a high level. And while the levels of this period are lower than previous, it is still significantly higher than other international cities.
