The Beijing Olympics met its pledges on the environment, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in an assessment report Wednesday.

The organizers made tremendous efforts to ensure that the 2008 Games marked a step forward in terms of an eco-friendly mass spectator sport event, and the Chinese authorities made big investments in public transport and renewable energies to reduce air pollution, said the Final Environmental Assessment released during the UNEP Governing Council meeting.

"The public attention of the world was focused on the Beijing Games and whether the authorities could pull off a landmark event on many fronts including the environment," said Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director who attended the Summer Olympics last August.

"They have fulfilled the promise of a Green Games in many areas including public transport, waste treatment and green Olympic venues," he said.

The challenge Beijing now faces is how to consolidate the achievements of the Games and turn them into a green legacy in the long term, Steiner said.

The assessment, conducted by independently appointed assessors, concluded that Beijing raised the environmental bar and the Games left a lasting legacy for the city.

The achievements are all the more impressive given that the Games were held in a rapidly developing city in a country facing multiple developmental challenges in the first decade of the 21st century, the report said.

"Along with environmental improvements across the city, a powerful legacy of the Games is increased awareness of environmental issues in China, particularly among Beijing residents and businesses," the report said.

It highlighted several areas where the Beijing Olympic organizers exceeded their commitments, saying the organizers had committed to implementing vehicle emission standards equal to Euro II for light vehicles -- in fact, Beijing switched to Euro IV emission standards for cars in time for the Games.

The Chinese authorities also exceeded their commitments in the greening of Beijing and the Olympic venues, with the creation of 720 green spaces in central Beijing, it said.

"Since winning the bid to host the Olympic Games, approximately 8,800 hectares of green space was developed using more than 30 million trees and rose bushes," it said.

"The number of blue sky days (days with an Air Pollution Index of 100 or below) rose from less than 180 in 2000 to 274 days in 2008."

According to the report, waste classification and recycling goals were exceeded by 2 percent and 5 percent respectively.

Furthermore, hazardous and medical waste treatment facilities were expanded and updated, all solid waste was sorted in venues, and the recycling rate in the Olympic venues was 23 percent higher than the committed level.

Beijing's achievements and challenges also provide key recommendations for the organizers of upcoming Games in Vancouver, London and Sochi as well as other mass sporting events, when they strive to realize their goals and set the environmental bar ever higher, the report added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2009)