Exchanging experiences to fight air pollution

This week, Chinese and international pollution management professionals are gathering in Beijing for a series of events as part of a Pollution Management and Environmental Health Business Week hosted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau with the support of the World Bank to share their experiences in air quality management.

These events are particularly timely as the toll from air pollution is becoming increasingly apparent across the world, especially for low and middle-income countries. Those of us living in polluted cities see evidence of the burden of air pollution all around us. That many of our fellow city dwellers choose to wear masks serves as a daily reminder that we are breathing polluted air.

Over the past five years, the Chinese government has been focusing on addressing PM2.5, particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less, which is the most critical pollutant for public health. In 2012, the government issued stricter standards for ambient PM2.5 concentration, which went into effect in January 2016 and are comparable to standards defined by the World Health Organization. The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) has set the target of reducing PM2.5 concentration by 18 percent. This is the first time PM2.5 targets have been included in a five-year plan. China is establishing the most extensive air monitoring system in the world, which is already covering 338 cities nationwide.