Beijing wins global award for air quality improvement
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, October 27, 2022
In the recent C40 World Mayors Summit, Beijing won the Cleaning the Air We Breathe award for its efforts to phase out coal in the city's heating system. The summit was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina by C40 Cities, a network of mayors of nearly 100 world-leading cities to combat climate crisis. Beijing was the only city in China to receive the award this year.
The award was presented to Beijing to recognize its exceptional leadership in tackling the challenge of air pollution, by successfully reducing emissions, improving air quality, and safeguarding public health.
Data shows that Beijing's average concentration of PM2.5 pollutants was 33 micrograms per cubic meter in 2021, dropping by 63.1% from 2013 levels. The city's average density of PM2.5 by Oct. 18 this year was 29 micrograms per cubic meter. Blue skies have become the norm in Beijing.
The improvement in air quality has been attributed to phasing out coal in its heating system. As a city with the largest area supported by a heating system in northern China, Beijing used to rely on coal-fired heating, which was the second largest source of PM2.5, according to a person in charge of the municipal ecology and environment bureau. In 2016, the city launched two campaigns to phase out coal in its heating system and supported more than 1.3 million homes and 6,300 boilers to shift away from coal-fired heating to clean alternatives.
As the city's energy structure improved, Beijing has reduced more than 10 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emission annually, with carbon density of 0.33 metric tons per 10,000-yuan GDP, the lowest nationwide.
In recent years, Beijing has actively engaged in global climate change governance, presented its achievements in green development, combating climate change and biodiversity protection, and shared its experience in urban governance through multilateral platforms.
Beijing's successful efforts provide a model for other cities to follow, according to "A Review of 20 years' Air Pollution Control in Beijing," a report issued by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2019.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)