Ranking Eastern Chinese Cities by
their "Clean Air" Actions
Preface
Figure 1: Global PM2.5 Aerosol Vertical Accumulation Distribution Map1
A satellite mapping analysis of PM2.5 concentration, as published by the US NASA
lab, indicates the coastal areas of Eastern China as the most affected by PM2.5
pollution in the world. According to statistics from China's Ministry of Environmental
Protection, cities in three regions—Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and
Jing-Jin-Ji Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) have seen over 100 smoggy days each year,
with fine particle concentration two to four times the level recommended by WHO
Air Quality Guidelines2. This comes as a result of a continuous increase in coal
burning and vehicle usage. Investigations by the Chinese Academy of Engineering
reveal the above-mentioned air pollution of these cities are attributable to both soot
and vehicle tail gas. Because of their insatiable demand for energy, these cities have
been hit hard by air pollution3.
Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta covers three
direct-controlled municipalities (Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai) and four provinces
(Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong), and is the most densely-populated and
economically developed area in China. In 2010, its population accounted for 27% of
1
NASA website, http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/health-sapping.html
Environment Planning Academy, Ministry of Environmental Protection, Guidance on Formulation of 12th
Five-Year Plan of Atmospheric Pollution Joint Prevention and Control in Priority Regions.
3 China's Energy Mid-Long Term Development Strategy Research—Environment, Science Press, February 2011.
1
2
the total in China and its GDP represented 43% of the national GDP. It attracted a
huge amount of public attention from the general public and media during the
PM2.5 crisis of late last year. Public outcry for transparency prompted Beijing, Tianjin,
Shanghai, Guangzhou and other cities to commit to disclosure of air quality
monitoring data and map out a plan called "Clean Air" Action. And since polluted air
is likely to migrate to other cities, individual cities must join forces in order to
improve air quality. A joint action plan for different administrative divisions and
regions to cooperate with tackling air pollution is urgently required.
In the six months that followed the public discussion around PM2.5, Greenpeace
selected 28 National Environmental Protection Priority Cities as defined by Ministry
of Environmental Protection in three key regions and ranked them based on their
current air quality, "clean air" action plans and targets committed to by their local
governments. We also analyzed the huge challenges these regions are facing in
environmental protection by examining the major sources of pollution of these cities.
Greenpeace also hopes that cities within these three regions (including
direct-controlled municipalities) along with provincial governments will create joint
efforts to reduce air pollution and demonstrate enough determination and
persistence to make clean air a reality in the near future.
1. City Ranking of Air Quality
We have ranked the state of air quality of 28 cities in key regions according to
National Statistics of Air Quality of Environmental Protection Priority Cities, released
by Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2010. Annual average PM2.5 levels of
these cities cannot yet be directly acquired due to monitoring and information
disclosure of PM2.5 having only just begun in China. Numerous findings have
indicated that the proportion of PM2.5 within PM10 stands at 50-80%. Thus,
statistics of annual average PM10 concentration of cities released by Ministry of
Environmental Protection have been used as a reference for the level of PM2.5 of
the 28 cities in these three regions4.
In Table 1 which ranks the annual average PM10 concentration of 28 environmental
protection priority cities in 2010, one can see that the region with the lowest level of
inhalable particles is the six Pearl Delta cities (marked blue); meanwhile the air
quality of 15 environmental protection priority cities in Yangtze Delta, which has
been marked as pink, have been deemed unsatisfactory. Shanghai on the other hand
has fared better than others in the Yangtze River Delta region. And significant
variations have been found among seven cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji
(Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) region, which has been marked purple. Beijing, Hangzhou and
Nanjing, are all severely affected by particle pollution, three cities most affected by
4
2010 Statistics of Air Quality of Environmental Protection Priority Cities
http://www.mep.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bgg/201102/t20110217_200906.htm
2
inhalable particles.
Also of note is the particle concentration of 28 cities in the Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze
River Delta, and Pearl Delta River, which is two to six times the WHO level. They all
fail to live up to the new, national grade-one standard of air quality announced in
2012. Other than the cities of the Pearl Delta, most cities in the Yangtze Delta and
Jing-Jin-Ji region are not even up to the national grade-two air quality standards.
Clearly there's a long way to go before we see significant improvement of the
country's air quality.
To observe whether the cities' air quality is improving, we compared the PM10
concentration of the 28 cities for the first half of 20115 to the data of 2010. We
found that two fifths of the national environmental protection priority cities in the
three regions (11 cities) was lower than the annual average in 2010, indicating some
small progress, while the remaining 17 cities saw an increase in inhalable particle
concentration over the same period; pollutants in Zhuhai, Shanghai, Huzhou,
Yangzhou and other cities increased by 20%.
5
China's Energy Mid-Long Term Development Strategy Investigation—Environment, Science Press, February
2011.
http://www.mep.gov.cn/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_D9E0CF7069AEFA8C52E0ADC84E045CF6F0E40200/filename/
W020110730434018324100.pdf
3
Table 1: Ranking Air Quality of Cities in Jing-Jin-Ji Region, Yantgtze River Delta, and
Pearl River Delta6
% Exceeded % Exceeded % Exceeded
PM10
Average
PM10
PM10
PM10
Ranking
level
PM10
compared to compared to compared to
within the
national
City
levels in
national II
national I
WHO
three regions rankings
2010
standards
standards
standards
3
3 7
3
in 2010
(ug/m )
(75ug/m )
(40ug/m )
(20ug/m3)
% Change for
the first half of
2011
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
2
4
6
9
11
20
26
34
43
45
46
48
53
54
61
62
63
70
72
73
74
76
77
78
82
83
104
Zhan Jiang
Zhu Hai
Shen Zhen
Shan Tou
Qinghuangdao
Guangzhou
Shanguan
Shanghai
Baoding
Tangshan
Wenzhou
Huzhou
Wuxi
Xuzhou
Handan
Suzhou
Lianyuangang
Shaoxing
Tianjin
Yangzhou
Ningbo
Changzhou
Nantong
Zhenjiang
Shi Jiazhuang
Hangzhou
Nanjing
45
49
57
60
64
69
74
79
84
85
85
86
88
88
90
90
90
95
96
96
96
97
97
97
98
98
114
——
——
——
——
——
——
6%
13%
20%
21%
21%
23%
26%
26%
29%
29%
29%
36%
37%
37%
37%
39%
39%
39%
40%
40%
63%
13%
23%
43%
50%
60%
73%
85%
98%
110%
113%
113%
115%
120%
120%
125%
125%
125%
138%
140%
140%
140%
143%
143%
143%
145%
145%
185%
225%
245%
285%
300%
320%
345%
370%
395%
420%
425%
425%
430%
440%
440%
450%
450%
450%
475%
480%
480%
480%
485%
485%
485%
490%
490%
570%
-6.50
25.6
15.4
0
-1.40
0
7.4
25.3
-5
-12.9
13.5
25.3
12.1
10.8
-4.7
0
19.8
-1
-3.1
20.6
12.6
1
-1
10.6
0
-3.9
-6.6
28
109
Beijing
121
73%
203%
605%
-4.9
6
2010 Statistics of Ambient Air Quality of Environmental Protection Priority Cities, Ministry of Environmental
Protection
http://www.mep.gov.cn/gkml/hbb/bgg/201102/t20110217_200906.htm
7 Ambient Air Quality Standard （GB3095-2012）grade-one standard: annual average PM10 is 70ug/m3, equivalent
to the first transitional level of WHO air quality standard; second level: annual average PM10 is 40ug/m3, between
the second transitional level of WHO air quality standard (50ug/m3) and the third transitional level(30ug/m3).
4
(Blue represents Pearl River Delta Cities. Pink represents Yangtze River Delta Cities.
Purple represents Jing-Jin-Ji Region Cities. The green line represents the annual
average limit of PM10 for the new national grade-one standard. The orange line
represents limits for the grade-two standard.)
2. City Ranking for "Clean Air" Action
The smoggy weather that blanketed half of China in the winter of 2011 has sparked a
huge debate over PM2.5 amongst the general public. Public discontent over air
quality and a demand for transparency of government information has urged local
governments to speed up the disclosure of PM2.5 readings.
However, information disclosure is simply the first step in the huge marathon that is
air quality improvement. The challenge to improve air quality is so big that very
strong commitments are required from these cities; it needs a legally binding action
plan. Also important is a real shift from end of pipe pollutant control to controlling
the source of pollutant, and an interdepartmental pollution prevention and control
mechanism is required, thereby facilitating the implementation of any "clean air"
action.
Rating "clean air" actions of 28 cities from four different respects below (see Table
2).
A. Air Quality Improvement Targets:
Three key indicators were used here: whether or not a clean air action plan has
been released, whether or not an air quality improvement target has been
specified and whether or not a timeline has been detailed.
China's Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law stipulate that for a city with
substandard air quality, its government must have a legally binding plan to gradually
improve air quality in order to meet this standard. After searching the websites of
the above municipal governments we've found that until now none of them have
formulated such a legally binding plan to ensure their air quality meets the standard,
although these provinces and cities all have an emissions reduction and energy
savings plan. Then we searched for ad hoc air pollution treatment plans formulated
by these cities and provinces to which they belong and found their programs have
been given various names, such as the "clean air plan", "blue sky program" and
"comprehensive air pollution treatment plan". See attachment for plans and policy
documents related to this.
The improvement of air quality not only requires a clear target, but also concerted
action by regions, in contrast to isolated efforts made by individual cities. We found
5
only Zhejiang and Guangdong has introduced a unified regional air pollution
treatment scheme by their provincial governments and municipal governments.
With regard to the air quality improvement target, these cities have not yet set
specific targets and timelines for the improvement of air quality as demanded by the
public, although they all have targets for total amount of pollution emission
reduction. Thus we have also chosen another two indicators: is there a quantitative
target set for the improvement of air quality? This means when pollution
concentration can be reduced by what percentage. Additionally we included whether
or not a timeline has been created to meet the standard, which means by when they
pledge to meet the national standards – an important commitment to public
demand.
We found only Beijing had given 2030 as a clear timeline to meet the national
standard. Wuxi and Hangzhou has proposed a PM10 concentration decreasing target,
while the other cities had set no specific timelines. Obscure illustrations of target
setting – "significant decrease of PM2.5 since 2013", "achieve functional area
standard by the end of 'twelve-five'" - are also used by some cities. To some extent
this shows that local governments still lack a commitment to improve air quality.
B. Control on Pollution from Coal Combustion
With regards to actions taken to improve air quality, we are mainly focusing on two
aspects: treatment of pollution from coal combustion in industry, electricity use,
heating and other sectors, as well as emissions from vehicles.
The dominance of coal in China's energy mix is the major cause of high air pollution
emissions. Coal combustion from all over the country contributes to 70-80% of the
emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide. End-of pipe treatment of coal
pollution in Eastern China began early and has shown up as comparatively better
levels of air pollution compared to other regions8. Thus, there's limited space for
further end of pipe pollution control improvement. Currently coal combustion
control measures taken by most of these cities include designation of zero
combustion zones within urban area, tightening approval of newly built coal-fired
power plants and heavy industry programs, as well as enhancing the mechanisms
used to control the pollution from the current coal combustion facilities. But to solve
the current regional compound pollution, there's no escaping the necessity of
putting a cap on coal consumption. This will assist in achieving zero growth of coal
consumption or even reduction.
Therefore whether there exists limits on total coal consumption has been used as
the most critical indicator of pollution control action. Despite the Ministry of
8
Chinese Academy of Engineering, China's energy medium and long-term development strategy research
–environment volume, Science Press, February 2011
6
Environmental Protection delivering a proposal that Jing-Jin-Ji Region, Yangtze River
Delta and Pearl River Delta should set limits on total coal consumption the plan is yet
to be approved by the State Council. Presently Beijing has announced a coal
consumption reduction target of 20 million tons in the coming five years and
Shanghai, Wuxi, Changzhou and Ningbo have also put forth absolute targets to limit
the increase of coal consumption. The remaining cities haven't put forward any
specific targets to control total coal consumption.
C. Efforts to Control Vehicle Pollution
Two key indicators are used here: whether or not a target has been set to phase out
yellow-label vehicles, whether or not measures have been taken to slow down
increase of vehicles.
Most of the cities in Jing-jin-ji Region, Yangtze Delta and Pearl Delta have put forward
a timeline to fully phase out yellow-label vehicles (heavy polluting vehicles). Beijing
is the first city that has adopted National-V emission standards for vehicles in 2012.
Beijing and Shanghai introduced different mechanisms to alleviate rapid growth of
the total number of vehicles. However, given most of the cities haven't curbed the
growth of vehicles, they are expected to continue to increase rapidly over the next
five years. Therefore the possibility of effective control of pollution from vehicle
emissions remains unclear.
D. Disclosing PM2.5 Data
We found that of these 28 cities, 15 Yangtze River Delta environmental protection
priority cities had all disclosed their daily average of PM2.5 levels by mid-May this
year. Of them, nine cities in Jiangsu even managed hourly PM2.5 data. The Pearl
River Delta unified plans for PM2.5 data disclosure had yet to include observation
stations in Zhanjiang, Shaoguan, and Shantou. The Jing-Jin-Ji region performed the
least satisfactory in terms of information disclosure. Except Beijing, none of the
other six cities (including Tianjin) within the region had disclosed their data.
7
Table 2: Ranking of Cities by "Clean Air" Actions
Clean air
Air quality
Timeline
Phasing out
Vehicle
PM2.5
action plan
improvement
to meet
Coal cap
yellow label
increase
data
Total
(3 points)
announced?
target?
standard
(1 point)
(1 point)
(1 point)
vehicle target
control
disclosure
score
(1 point)
(2 points)
(1 point)
Beijing
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
10
Shanghai
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
7
Wuxi
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
6
Changzhou
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
5
Ningbo
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
4
Shenzhen
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
3
Suzhou
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
3
Nantong
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
3
Nanjing
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
3
Hangzhou
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
3
Zhuhai
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Guangzhou
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Xuzhou
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Lianyungang
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Yangzhou
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
Yes
2
Wenzhou
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Huzhou
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Shaoxing
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
2
Zhanjiang
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
1
Shaoguan
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
1
Shantou
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
1
Baoding
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
1
Handan
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
1
Shijiazhuang
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
1
Tianjin
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
1
Zhenjiang
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
1
Qinhuangdao
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
0
Tangshan
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
0
City
8
After considering the above seven indicators with regards to "Clean Air" actions
made by local governments, Beijing stands out in terms of both determination and
willingness to take action among the cities of the three regions in Eastern China.
Some cities in the Yangtze River region also had a fairly progressive set of actions in
the pipeline, such as Shanghai and Wuxi, but regional cooperation in the region is
still lagging behind. The Pearl River Delta had comparatively good coordination
within the region, however till now we can't see a clear target on capping coal
consumption or vehicle increase. While the remaining cities in Jing-Jin-Ji region (with
Beijing the exception) doing the poorest.
3. Challenges Facing Air Quality Improvement
Key to improving urban air quality is reducing air pollutants. Numerous research
findings have indicated that the increased of secondary particles in PM2.5 is linked to
increases in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide9. According to statistics from the
Ministry of Environment Protection, major air pollution emissions in China are huge 22.678 million tons of sulfur dioxide and 22.736 million tons of nitrogen dioxide per
year - landing China at number one in the world. Industrial dust emissions have
reached 12.778 million tons and all these air pollutants have overwhelmed the
nation's environmental capacity10. Jing-Jin-Ji region, Pearl River Delta and Yangtze
River Delta are hubs of economic activity and are where pollution emissions
concentrate in China. In these regions the problem of air pollution is more
prominent. While the above regions account for 6% of the area of China, their
combined sulfur dioxide accounts for 20% of the total in China, and nitrogen oxide
accounts for 28% of the total11. See Table 3 for the emission intensity of sulfur
dioxide and nitrogen oxide within different administrative areas of these regions.
9
Cao Guoliang, Zhang Xiaoran, Gong Shanling et al, List of Sources of Major Particles and Air Pollution in China,
2011.
Jiang Dahe, On Investigation and Control of Smog, 2010 Papers of Annual Symposium of Chinese Society for
Environmental Science
10 12th Five Year Plan of Atmospheric Pollution Joint Prevention and Control in Environmental Protection Priority
Regions (Draft for Discussion), September 2011
11 These statistics come from the Notice on the Issuance of the 12th Five-Year Plan of Energy Saving and
Emission Reduction Comprehensive Program by State Council (NDRC [2011]26)
9
Table 3: Emission Intensity of Pollutants in Eastern China12
Area
Emission Intensity of
Sulfur Dioxide in 2010
(Ton/Square Kilometer)
Emission Intensity of
Nitrogen Oxide in 2010
(Ton/Square kilometer)
Beijing
Tianjin
Hebei
Jing-Jin-Ji
Shanghai
Jiangsu
Zhejiang
Yangtze River Delta
Guangdong
National Average Level
6.19
21.64
7.57
8.17
43.97
10.86
6.84
9.84
4.66
2.36
11.79
30.91
9.02
10.34
76.38
14.72
8.53
13.45
7.35
2.37
Figure 2: Pollutant emission intensity
Table 3 shows the intensity of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions in
Shanghai ranks the highest - 25 times the national level. Tianjin ranks second while
Guangdong's emission intensity is the lowest, but is still approximately three times
the national level. Higher intensity indicates a tougher battle in the fight against air
pollution.
The above pollutants primarily come from two sources, which are coal combustion
and vehicles emission. An overreliance on coal is the major reason why air pollution
12
Pollution intensity equals to statistics of pollution emission in 2010 divided by the areas of administrative
divisions. These statistics come from the Notice on the Issuance of the 12th Five-Year Plan of Energy Saving and
Emission Reduction Comprehensive Program by State Council (NDRC [2011]26)
10
emissions are so high. Coal combustion contributes to 80% of total sulfur dioxide
emissions and 70% of total nitrogen oxide emissions. As China's push to urbanize
speeds up, recent years have seen an increase in the number of vehicles on the
roads, becoming a major contributor to nitrogen oxide. In 2010, nitrogen oxide
emissions from vehicles accounted for 26% of the total in China. Thus our analysis on
the future challenge of improving air quality factors in coal combustion and the
vehicle numbers.
A. Coal Consumption
Table 4: Coal consumption intensity in three regions
Area
Shanghai
Jiangsu
Zhejiang
Yangtze River Delta
Tianjin
Beijing
Hebei
Jing-Jin-Ji
Guangdong
National Average Level
13
Coal
Consumption in
2010
(10,000 tons)
5876
23100
13950
42926
4807
2635
27465
34906
15984
Coal
Consumption
Intensity Per
Unit Area in
2010
(ton/km2)
9326
2310
1395
2081
4370
1568
1446
1603
888
342.9
Coal
Consumption
in 201513
(10,000 tons)
Coal
Consumption
Intensity in
2015
(ton/km2)
5876
25411
15345
46631
5528
1500
31584
38612
15984
9327
2541
1534
2260
5025
893
1662
1773
888
The calculation is based on the limit on coal consumption raised by Ministry of Environmental Protection in
the 12th Five-Year Plan of Atmospheric Pollution Joint Prevention and Control in Priority Regions (Draft for
Discussion).
11
National
average line
Figure 3: Coal Consumption Intensity in three Regions
Shanghai tops the list in terms of coal consumption intensity. Tianjin, an industrially
developed city, ranks second. Jiangsu in Yangtze River Delta takes third place, while
Guangdong fares better. But overall, the coal consumption intensity per unit area in
coastal areas of Eastern China is three to six times the national level. According to
the limit of total coal consumption for the coming five years as set by Ministry of
Environmental Protection, coal consumption intensity in Jing-Jin-Ji region and
Yangtze River Delta will continue to increase by 8% and 10 % respectively, which will
pose a great challenge to the improvement of air quality and meeting standards in
the above regions. The only exception being the Pearl River Delta which is expecting
zero coal consumption increases in MEP’s draft plan.
B. The Number of Vehicles
In 2010, nitrogen oxide emitted from vehicles throughout the country reached 5.994
million tons, accounting for 26% of the total emissions (also see footnote 13). The
continuous increase in vehicles makes air pollution a complicated issue. According to
the 2011 Vehicle air pollution Annual Report, provinces that have a large number of
vehicles in 2010 are primarily located in Eastern China. Guangdong (7.768 million),
Shandong (7.005 million), Jiangsu (5.453 million), Zhejiang (5.381 million), Hebei
(4.869 million) top the list in terms of number of vehicles.
Density of vehicles can also tell us something. Table 5 shows that Beijing has the
largest number of vehicles in China and the highest density of vehicles in Jing-Jin-Ji
region. With regards to density, Shanghai has the highest density of vehicles in China,
equivalent to 23 times the national average level.
But we must take note that except Beijing and Shanghai, none of the other areas
have introduced a policy to control the increasing number of vehicles. The
12
uncontrolled vehicle increase will undoubtedly burden the already heavily polluted
air.
Table 5: Density of Vehicles in Three Regions
Province/Direct-Controlled
Municipality
The Number of
Vehicles in 2010
(Million)14
Density of Vehicles
(Million/Square
Kilometers)15
Shanghai
Beijing
Tianjin
Jiangsu
Zhejiang
Guangdong
Hebei
Naitonal Average Level
2.7
4.76
1.8
5.45
5.38
7.77
4.87
190
4.66
2.83
1.64
0.55
0.54
0.43
0.26
0.2
4. Policy Recommendations
In conclusion, the air pollution situation in the cities of Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze
River Delta and Pearl River Delta is increasingly bleak, with coal consumption and the
number of vehicles on the roads continuing to grow far too rapidly. Eastern China is
already heavily burdened with pollution and this, without a doubt, will bring great
challenges to air quality improvement.
Expanding urbanization only increases the influence and impacts between
neighboring areas. The Ministry of Environmental Protection has found that the
above cities all share a portion of air pollution to other parts of their respective
region. 16-26% of inhalable particles are contributed by external sources16. The
urban air quality improvement action requires coordinated efforts among regions.
Hence the suggestions from Greenpeace are:
1. Ministry of Environmental Protection should introduce the 12th Five-Year Plan of
Air Pollution Joint Control and Prevention Planning in Priority Regions as early as
possible, specify the air pollution improvement target in priority areas during the
12th FYP, set clear targets regarding the control of coal consumption in these areas
14
Source of Data, 2011 Annual air pollution Report of Vehicle Pollution Prevention, Ministry of Environmental
Protection.
15 Vehicle Density = Number of Vehicles ÷ Size of Administrative Area
16 12th Five Year Plan of Atmospheric Pollution Joint Prevention and Control in Environmental Protection Priority
Regions (Draft for Discussion), September 2011
13
and check the increase of pollutants at their source.
2. Cities in Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta should
formulate legally binding plans as early as possible as well as regional coordinated
plans to ensure air quality in these regions and propose clear timelines to reach
national air quality standards, especially on PM2.5.
3. Cities in Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta should set
clear, progressive and absolute limits on coal consumption – a coal cap, to effectively
restrain the rapid growth of coal consumption.
4. Cities in Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta should
introduce effective policy instruments to curb the rapid growth of the number of
vehicles on the roads.
5. Given that coal consumption could still continue to increase in the years to come,
Jing-Jin-Ji region, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta should implement the special
limit for air pollution emissions (the strictest limit) as seen in Table 2 of Emission
Standard of Air Pollution of Coal-Fired Power Plants (GB13223-2001)17 as early as
possible, and introduce similar regulations to other big coal consuming industries.
Final words from Greenpeace
This ranking is the first attempt from Greenpeace, and likely from any other
organizations, to combine and comment on "clean air" actions taken by major
Chinese cities, following the recent debate in China on PM2.5 pollution. Limited by
the different levels of government information disclosure on plans or regulations,
there may still be points missing from this ranking report, making this far from
perfect. We will continue to carry on our ranking work and as more information
becomes available strive to produce more comprehensive rankings in the future.
May 2012
17
Ministry of Environmental Protection, Emission standard of air pollutants for thermal power plants,
http://kjs.mep.gov.cn/hjbhbz/bzwb/dqhjbh/dqgdwrywrwpfbz/201109/t20110921_217534.htm
14
Attachment: A compilation of local air pollution alleviation plans and regulations in
cities and provinces in the three regions (in Chinese).
15