A total of 22 indicators will be used to evaluate river quality during the 12th Five Year Plan (2011-15) period, Zhao Hualin, Director of the Pollution Prevention Department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), said. After more indicators, such as for heavy metals, become national standards, the water quality of some rivers may be downgraded for a certain period of time, said Ling Jiang, Deputy Director of the Department. China’s awareness of water safety has been heightened following several major pollution cases in recent years. Under a new plan, 49.2% of China’s rivers and lakes monitored by the central authorities should meet at least Grade III standards by the end of 2015, an increase of 5 percentage points from 2010. The country also plans to reduce the proportion of “worse-than-Grade-V” water by 8 percentage points in five years from 25.8% in 2010. In China, river water quality is measured in six levels, from Grade I to Grade V and another grade called “worse than Grade V”. Only Grade I and II water can be used as drinking water sources, according to regulations. An estimated CNY500 billion will be spent from 2011 to 2015 to ease the pollution in 10 major rivers and lakes monitored by the central government.

Several major Chinese cities have some of the world’s highest per capita carbon footprints, the World Bank report “Sustainable Low-Carbon City Development in China” said. Greenhouse gas emissions in Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing far exceed those of cities such as Paris, Tokyo, London, Barcelona and Jakarta. Industry and power generation are major contributors in Chinese cities, largely because coal dominates the nation’s energy use. Globally, most urban emissions come from transport, buildings and waste, but these three sectors only account for about 20% of China’s urban emissions. Shomik Mehindratta, a World Bank urban transport specialist and co-editor of the report, said Chinese cities have high emission levels because they are important global centers of industrial production.

China must act urgently on multiple fronts if it is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from its rapidly expanding cities and hit government targets for curbing carbon intensity, a report from the World Bank said. Cities generate an estimated 70% of energy-related greenhouse gases and with China set to increase the number of urban residents by 350 million over the next 20 years, the bank says the case for urgent action is strong. “For the 12th Five Year Plan period, a 17% reduction target for carbon intensity has been set,” the World Bank’s Country Director for China, Klaus Rohland, wrote in a foreword to the report. “Addressing cities’ emissions will be a crucial element of this planned reduction.” China has set a goal of reducing the economy’s carbon intensity by 40% to 45% in 2020 compared with 2005, while the five year plan covers the period from 2011 to 2015. The report, titled “Sustainable Low-Carbon City Development In China”, says industry and power generation each contribute as much as 40% of city emissions. The remaining 20% of the carbon footprint is left by transport, buildings and waste. The World Bank called for energy-efficient buildings and industries, transport alternatives to cars and better management of water and waste. The report analyses the financial instruments the World Bank has available to support the building of low-carbon cities in China. The bank said 67% of projects in its existing China lending portfolio had environmental, climate change, or low-carbon objectives.

Beijing will introduce new fuel standards on May 31 that municipal officials say are nearly on a par with the European Union’s Euro V, the first Chinese city to do so. All fuel sold by retailers in the Chinese capital will be required to adhere to the new standards, which are expected to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from 50 to 10 milligrams per kilogram, according to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau. The most vital improvement of the new fuel is that it contains less sulfur, according to Zhao Lijian, Researcher with the Energy Foundation. The cleaner fuel will also increase engine efficiency and reduce fuel consumption. According to experiments conducted by the China Automotive Technology and Research Center, the new fuel will cut pollutant emissions by 15%. But the production of low-sulfur fuel will increase costs, said Fu Xingguo, Engineer at Sinopec Corp, China’s largest oil refiner. However, the price of fuel will not be raised in the coming half year. “Exhaust emitted by automotive vehicles has replaced the coal-boilers to become the biggest source of air pollution in Beijing,” Du Shaozhong, former Deputy Director of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau said in February. Beijing has more than 5 million vehicles and 10 million registered drivers. Shanghai is adopting the China IV fuel standards and is considering implementing strict standards in 2013, according to the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.

Chinese airlines will continue to oppose the European Union arrangement used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, despite the EU’s warning that it might take punitive measures in response, the China Air Transport Association (CATA) said. Deputy Secretary General Chai Haibo said Chinese airlines are following an order that the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) issued in February, forbidding them from abiding by the ETS without first receiving the government’s permission. Eight Chinese airlines, along with two of their Indian counterparts, have not submitted 2011 carbon emission data to the EU yet, whereas 1,200 carriers in the world have already handed over the reports, Connie Hedegaard, EU Climate Commissioner, said. According to the EU’s schedule, airlines should submit their carbon emission data for last year by the end of March and will be charged taxes on those emissions starting in March 2013, after this year’s carbon emissions have been assessed. Hedegaard said the 10 Chinese and Indian airlines that have yet to submit the data emit less than 3% of the industry’s greenhouse gases. The European Union will impose punishments on them if they do not report the data by mid-June, said Hedegaard. The airlines could be fined or even banned from flying to Europe. In case a global solution is reached at the International Civil Aviation Organization Assembly next year, the EU has indicated it is ready to review and amend the plan.