China Considers Setting Binding PM2.5 Targets
March 29, 2013
Translated by Zhu Na
The Ministry of Environment is considering adding PM2.5 readings to it's list of binding environmental targets.
PM2.5 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, roughly half the size of a red blood cell. They are the smallest monitored pollutants: mostly sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, carbon and mineral dust created by burning fossil fuels. In high concentrations, they reduce visibility and can penetrate deep into people's respiratory tracts and lungs, causing asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and metal poisoning.
Zhao Penggao (赵鹏高), an official from the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in a speech to an industry conference yesterday revealed that that the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is currently considering setting binding targets on the levels of PM2.5.
Among other things, the government set binding targets on the minimum amount of land to be set aside for farming, carbon intensity and the energy-intensity of GDP growth as part of the country's 12th Five Year Guidelines.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-03/05/c_13762230.htm
Zhao also said that he believed that the government will put more effort into environmental protection and that there will be more space for the development of the environmental protection industry.
"As pollution is so serious, if we don't do something about it, the public won't agree and heaven won't accept it" said Zhao.
The government had earlier forecast that over the five years from 2011 to 2015, a total of 3.4 trillion yuan would be invested in environmental protection in China. This forecast has since been updated, and it's now predicted that the figure may exceed five trillion yuan.
The China Securities Journal report said that although experts supported setting targets for PM2.5 measurements, they also noted that in the short term, it would probably be very difficult to achieve.
The article noted that in foreign countries the process of cleaning up the air took close to 20 years and that if the targets were introduced today, not one region would be able to meet them.
Links and Sources
China Securities Journal 环保部酝酿将PM2.5列入约束性指标
http://www.cs.com.cn/ssgs/hyzx/201303/t20130329_3926695.html
March 29, 2013
Translated by Zhu Na
The Ministry of Environment is considering adding PM2.5 readings to it's list of binding environmental targets.
PM2.5 refers to particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers, roughly half the size of a red blood cell. They are the smallest monitored pollutants: mostly sulfate, nitrates, ammonia, sodium chloride, carbon and mineral dust created by burning fossil fuels. In high concentrations, they reduce visibility and can penetrate deep into people's respiratory tracts and lungs, causing asthma, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and metal poisoning.
Zhao Penggao (赵鹏高), an official from the Department of Resource Conservation and Environmental Protection at the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), in a speech to an industry conference yesterday revealed that that the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is currently considering setting binding targets on the levels of PM2.5.
Among other things, the government set binding targets on the minimum amount of land to be set aside for farming, carbon intensity and the energy-intensity of GDP growth as part of the country's 12th Five Year Guidelines.
Zhao also said that he believed that the government will put more effort into environmental protection and that there will be more space for the development of the environmental protection industry.
"As pollution is so serious, if we don't do something about it, the public won't agree and heaven won't accept it" said Zhao.
The government had earlier forecast that over the five years from 2011 to 2015, a total of 3.4 trillion yuan would be invested in environmental protection in China. This forecast has since been updated, and it's now predicted that the figure may exceed five trillion yuan.
The China Securities Journal report said that although experts supported setting targets for PM2.5 measurements, they also noted that in the short term, it would probably be very difficult to achieve.
The article also noted that in foreign countries the process of cleaning up the air took close to 20 years and that if the targets were introduced today, not one region would be able to meet them.
Links and Sources
China Securities Journal: 环保部酝酿将PM2.5列入约束性指标
