Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei coordinate approaches to smog
September 11, 2014 Category Environment, Pollution
The governments of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province – known also as Jing-Jin-Ji – agreed on the need to tackle the region’s chronic air pollution, but are using different approaches. “Tackling air pollution is a focus of the plan,” said Laurence Brahm, Chief Adviser on environmental economic policy to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) under the European Union dialogue program on climate change. After rolling out their own plans to cut emissions, the three local governments also agreed that the solution required a concerted joint approach. A coordinating committee was set up in October to lead the anti-pollution campaign. Co-chaired by a Vice Mayor of Beijing and a Vice Minister of Environmental Protection, the group’s main task is to provide joint forecasts on severe smog across the region and coordinate emergency responses when it occurs. Initial results have been promising, as in the first three months of this year, the average concentration of hazardous PM2.5 dropped by 9.5% in 13 cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji area compared to a year earlier. Levels of the larger PM10 dropped by 8.3%. President Xi Jinping “has tried to overcome the persistent barriers to integration and development of Jing-Jin-Ji by pressuring Beijing to outsource its polluting industries, moving some of its population to nearby satellite cities, and by focusing on clean and high value-added sectors,” Hongyi Lai, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Nottingham’s School of Contemporary Chinese Studies said. Beijing has long blamed nearby provinces for its worsening smog. According to the capital’s environmental bureau, about 25% of air pollution is carried by wind from nearby cities, in particular Baoding, Langfang and Tangshan. Official monitors say the biggest source of Beijing’s air pollution still comes from outside the city, beating local vehicle emissions, coal burning and industrial plants combined. Cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area have been ordered to cut PM2.5 levels by 25% by 2017 from 2012 levels.
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