Hong Kong and Guangdong have decided on reduction targets for air pollutants up to 2020 that are much less ambitious than goals set in the previous phase. Under the new eight-year plan starting this year, authorities from each side will also work towards separate mid- and long-term reduction rates of emission. That decision marked a departure from the 2002-2010 phase, in which both places shared common emission targets for four pollutants. In that phase, Guangdong failed by 2010 to achieve a promised cut in volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and marginally attained the target for nitrogen oxides. Hong Kong, meanwhile, had met all four targets, which also include sulphur dioxide and respirable suspended particulates. “Obviously, there’s not enough momentum for Guangdong officials to take emissions of volatile organic compounds very seriously,” a Chinese analyst said. Zhong Liuju, an air pollution prevention expert linked to the provincial government, said pollution worsened at an “unexpected” pace as 2010 economic output turned out to be 1.26 times the original estimates. Both regions laid down new specific reduction targets on emissions that would apply only until 2015. In the three years ahead, Hong Kong will have a tighter sulphur dioxide target than Guangdong, but will ease up on scrutiny of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. Both places endorse the same target for respirable suspended particulates, or particles of 10 microns or less. By 2020, Hong Kong hopes to see emission drops in all four pollutants of 15% to 75%, and Guangdong of 15% to 40%.

Shrinking Shenzhen mangrove forests are posing a threat to migratory birds at Hong Kong’s Mai Po Nature Reserve, experts say. Shenzhen had more than 530 hectares of mangrove forest in the early 1980s, forming one of China’s most important wetland conservation zones. It now has less than a quarter of that left – just 130 hectares. More than half of the endangered species that were living in Shenzhen’s mangrove wetlands have disappeared, including birds, plants and fish, according to a report by Wang Yongjun, former Director of Shenzhen’s Futian Mangrove Nature Reserve. Experts in Shenzhen blamed the mangrove forests’ decline on reckless urbanization and industrial pollution. But few expected such a massive loss of forest area, especially after Shenzhen’s city government released a blueprint in 2007 pledging to triple the size of the city’s mangrove forests to more than 500 hectares by 2015. The authorities have not released a general survey of the state of the city’s wetlands and mangroves since 2006. Most of Shenzhen’s remaining mangroves are now threatened by infrastructure projects and commercial property development.

Some of the most well-known textile brands been accused of hiding their toxic trails by using government-run wastewater treatment plants. Greenpeace International said a recent investigation found a wide range of hazardous substances in the effluent of two communal treatment plants in industrial zones in Zhejiang province. The treatment plants in Shaoxing and Xiaoshan, serving the Binhai, Linjiang and Jiangdong industrial zones, dumped a wide range of hazardous substances into the Qiantang river, it said. Zara, Metersbonwe, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, Esprit, Marks & Spencer, Gap and JC Penny source their products from plants in the zones. The two treatment plants process 2.1 million tons of waste water per day. The results of the investigation were published in a report entitled “Toxic Threads: Putting Pollution on Parade,” which claims that facilities were exploiting complex wastewater systems to hide scrutiny of their manufacturing processes. The use of communal treatment plants makes it extremely hard to trace the discharge of hazardous chemicals to specific facilities, Greenpeace said. Hu Jian, Deputy Director of the Shaoxing Environmental Protection Bureau, however, insisted that the processed wastewater met national standards.

China is pledging to reduce the amount of fine particles in the air by at least 5% by 2015, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection’s plan. China will cut PM2.5 intensity in 117 cities and reduce the intensity of the larger PM10 particles by 10%, sulfur dioxide by 10% and nitrogen dioxide by 7% by 2015 from 2010 levels. For the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta region, including Shanghai, and the Pearl River Delta region, the PM2.5 intensity will be cut by at least 6%, the Ministry said. The areas covered by the plan produce nearly half the nation’s sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, smoke and dust. For PM2.5 issues, the plan not only sets an improvement target, but also lays equal stress on treating primary and secondary pollution. Smoke, dust and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are also included in its emissions reduction agenda. The plan also aims to keep ozone under proper control and reduce pollution from acid rain by 2015, when a regional air pollution control management and control network will be established. “Air pollution in China is still very serious. For PM2.5, about 70% of domestic cities or 80% of the 117 cities in the major areas fail to meet the nation’s new air quality requirement,” said Zhao Hualin, Director of the Ministry’s Pollution Prevention and Control Department. The standard for PM2.5 in China is 75 micrograms per cubic meter in a 24-hour period, the Shanghai Daily reports.

The Kyoto Protocol was extended by eight years until 2020 at the Doha Climate Conference in Qatar earlier this month, averting a new setback to two decades of UN efforts that have failed to halt growing global greenhouse gas emissions, but the agreement was undermined by the withdrawal of Russia, Japan and Canada, so its signatories now account for only 15% of global emissions. A package of decisions, known as the Doha Climate Gateway, would also postpone until next year a dispute over demands from developing nations for more cash to help them cope with global warming. China teamed up with other emerging economies to push for a clear timetable on a promised tenfold increase in financial aid – USD100 billion a year by 2020, but the demands met strong opposition from the U.S., Europe and other developed nations.

The two-week conference was briefly extended to allow an agreement to be reached. The core issue was that developed countries should “substantially” reduce emissions, in line with “common but differentiated responsibilities” and set targets for a second-commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, said China’s top climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua, who is also Vice Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC). The first commitment period ends at the end of December. The Chinese delegation had hoped to reach a legally binding second-commitment period. “Developed countries that didn’t join the protocol or decided to opt out of any new commitments need to take comparable reduction measures by setting specific targets,” said Xie. As China’s per-capita emissions are close to, or almost equal to, the global average, the country is facing challenges in coping with climate change and must adopt a greener, low carbon path, he said. Prior to the conference, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) released the Green Book of Climate Change.

Xie Zhenhua added that China’s carbon emissions for each unit of economic growth are expected to fall by 5% this year, the biggest drop since it set a carbon intensity goal to curb greenhouse gases three years ago. Speaking on the sidelines of United Nations climate talks in Doha, he said China had cut carbon intensity by 3.4% in the first nine months, thanks to increased energy efficiency and renewable energy gains. Energy experts said this year’s prolonged economic slowdown was probably a major contributor to the significant drop in carbon intensity. China fell short of the annual goal of reducing carbon intensity by 3.5% last year, recording a drop of a little more than 2%.