China leads the world in renewable energy investment. According to Financial Times, Beijing last year accounted for 29 per cent of all global investment in clean energy, and is expected to remain the global leader. Mr. Corrado Clini, Former Minister for the Environment of Italy and Member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development, explains the necessity to find a model of sustainable development.
Rising industrial and energy production, the burning of fossil fuels and the dramatic rise in traffic on our roads all contribute to air pollution in our towns and cities which, in turn, lead to serious problems for health. Despite the technology progress made in the last decade in all the sectors, and despite the relevant reduction of most of the “traditional” pollutants, air quality continues to cause every day serious problems mainly because of the fine particles. In the EU human toll for air pollution is worse than for road traffic accidents, making it the number one environmental cause of premature death. It reduces human life expectancy by more than 8 months on average and by more than two years in the most polluted cities and regions. According to the Lancet’s (the most influential medical journal) “Global burden of disease”, in one year in the fast-growing Asian cities more than 2.1 million people die prematurely from air pollution. The epidemiological evidence shows that the fine particles are the deadliest air pollutants. “Fine particulate causes about 3% of mortality from cardiopulmonary disease, about 5% of mortality from lung cancer, and about 1% of mortality from acute respiratory infections in children under 5 years, worldwide. According to the Lancet, pollution is estimated to cause about 3.25 million in one year deaths globally.
Current China, EU and USA limit values for ambient air quality are weaker than those recommended by who, which are intended to minimize the effects of particles with the highest impact on people’s health. The limit values are based on the same epidemiological and environmental evaluations, but are representative of the feasibility of the mitigation measures in different climatic areas and in different economies. Nevertheless, it is urgent to meet the gap, both for the environmental health protection as well as to reduce the costs of air pollution. In the EU the direct costs from air pollution amount to about € 23 billion per year, and the external costs from health impacts alone are estimated at € 330-940 billion (3-9% of EU GDP). EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), an agency of the U.S. federal government, estimates that by 2030, the Clean Power Plan (adopted in 2014) would avoid up to 6,600 premature deaths, up to 150,000 asthma attacks in children, and up to 490,000 missed work or school day.
The great challenge of the Chinese leadership is to ensure air quality for more than 1 billion of people. To meet the gap, cross sectorial and long term policies are needed to address the multiple sources of air pollution, first of all Pms (fine dust) and black carbon. It will require shifts to cleaner technologies and practices. To achieve this it is necessary the reduce of fossil fuels, but unfortunately, is not enough. Primarily we need to reduce SLCPs (Short-Lived Climate Pollutants) and black carbon emissions. UNEP, (United Nations Environment Programme, an agency that coordinates its environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices), estimates that the adoption of measures to reduce SLCPs and black carbon emissions by 2030 would limit the global warming expected by 2050 ( 0.4-0.5 °C), while each year preventing more than two million premature . Strategies that reduce SLCPs emissions complement CO2 mitigation by reducing short-term increases in temperature, thereby minimizing the risk of dangerous climate feedbacks. The burning of coal to generate power and heating, using low efficient technologies, is a primary source of particles, as well as the most carbon-intensive energy technology affecting climate system.
Closing coal fire power plants in the urban areas, as well as the mandatory use of supercritical clean coal technologies in new power generation, are key measures to address health protection and climate change. For these reasons China needs to adopt stringent energy efficiency and air pollution emissions standards for coal power plants. According to IEA (International Energy Agency), the implementation of such measures will drive in China emission reductions with a massive positive side effect on air pollution. Another priority is introducing efficient technologies in the final energy uses (lighting, heating and cooling of buildings, supplied by coal and oil, account about 40% of the total energy consumption in the urban areas of Asia), and replacing fossil fuels with local distributed renewable energy supply, will reduce drastically the PM pollution as well as the carbon emissions. In terms of heating and cooling, installing more efficient equipment (such as gas heating systems, heat pumps, high efficient air-conditioners, automation and control systems) is one of the best means of reducing emissions both of pollutants and CO2 in the short term. The rapid increasing of traffic volumes in the Asian cities is a major source of air pollutant and particles, mostly from diesel soot and gasses emitted by cars. Looking at the car ownership forecast in China and India, it is clear that cars are still a “status symbol” in these countries, despite the congestion and the air pollution. In this context, the mandatory introduction of hybrid and electric cars in the urban areas, combined with efficient alternatives and intelligent transport systems, are the best medium–term options to reduce both pollution and carbon emissions.
* Former Minister for the Environment of Italy
