Air pollution reduction in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area achieves notable result

The reduction in PM2.5 concentrations in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei is among the most substantial air quality improvements ever achieved in the world in the past five to six years, according to a report by the World Bank.

The WB team on Pollution Management and Environmental Health released the report at the 2020 Beijing International Forum for Metropolitan Clean Air and Climate Actions on Tuesday.

Jostein Nygard, a senior environmental specialist of WB, said the air quality management of fine particulate matter particularly from industrial processes, power plants and clean household fuels, heavy-duty vehicles, passenger cars and industrial combustion sources have worked well.

He suggested that, for the next steps, while continuing to focus on already applied measures, increasing focuses can be given to secondary PM sources from fertilizer use efficiency, urea substitution and manure management.

Zhang Dawei, deputy director of the Department of Air of the Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment, announced at the forum that the average annual concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing dropped from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 42 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019, a decrease of more than 50 percent, while the carbon emission intensity fell by 43 percent from 2010 to 2019.

Addressing the forum, Helena Molin Valdes, head of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition Secretariat at the United Nations Environment Programme, said China's implementation of the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan since it was launched in 2013 marked a new era of the country's efforts toward clean air, with measures covering rule of law, science and technology support, comprehensive emission cuts, management innovation and social participation.