5 Billion RMB Invested in Cleaning Northern China’s Air

5 Billion RMB Invested in Cleaning Northern China’s Air
Oct 31, 2013 By eChinacities.com

Editor’s Note: You’ve come a long way, baby! Yes, Virginia: ever since the US Embassy in Beijing raised awareness of the state of air pollution in the country’s capital, China has cut down on its assertions of “fog” and “Chinese cooking exhaust” being the cause of the smog. In conjunction with limiting vehicle use in times of heavy pollution, China has announced that it will be investing 5 billion RMB towards cleaning Northern China’s air.

In this Chinese translated news article, we hear about the ways in which this money will be allocated and spent across six provinces. The system will “allocate funds based on merit” ensuring us a good “show” in the future.

Since the end of 2011 measurements of PM 2.5 have been gradually gaining the public’s attention, and both central and local media are continually issuing reports on the severity of China’s air pollution situation, particularly in Northern China. On October 14, the Economic Construction Department of the Ministry of Finance released information on its website stating the Ministry of Finance will be investing 5 billion RMB to clean up Northern China’s air. The money will be spread across six provinces and areas: Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Shandong Province.

A reporter for the China Business Report learned that the provinces will be “allocated funds based on merit.” At the present time, the Department of Environmental Protection is responsible for making this verification.


Source: Ifindkarma

Six provinces to share one small slice of pie

The Ministry of Finance states that the main focus of the 5 billion RMB fund is to be directed towards solving the problems in Hebei Province. According to a number of sources most of the funds have already been allocated: Hebei Province will likely receive 2 billion RMB; Tianjin will be issued 600 million RMB; and Beijing will be given approximately 900 million RMB. The finance planning department of the Department of Environmental Protection declined to comment on these details.

On September 12, the State Council announced the “Plan of Action for the Prevention of Air Pollution” (hereafter abbreviated to the “Action Plan”) which affirms that within five years, PM 2.5 levels are to be reduced for Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Pearl River Delta by 25%, 20% and 15%, respectively. These percentages are based on 2012 PM 2.5 levels. The plan calls for five years of strenuous efforts which will produce an “overall improvement” throughout the entire country. While Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei are just three among many polluted places, politically they remain a top priority.

According to this Action Plan, the State Council has proposed that in order to enforce these laws across Northern China central finances will enact the following directives: conform the overall plan and focus mainly on the reduction of polluting contaminants, set up a special fund to be used for the prevention and solution to the problem of air pollution in China, and to establish a system of “award by merit” to places that are most heavily hit. As such the central government will invest in infrastructure as a way to support areas that are most heavily hit by air pollution.

Within the scope of the Action Plan, Hebei Province is the main area of concern. This is because pollution in Hebei Province not only affects Hebei but due to weather patterns it also affects other areas. The Department for Environmental Protection in Beijing had stated that pollutants from outside the surrounding vicinity had been a serious contributing factor to the heavy smog that hit Beijing at the beginning of the year. The additions of these “outside contaminants” work in conjunction with emissions made by the city itself, and thus make Beijing even more polluted.

Hebei “unduly emphasized”

Yang Guozhan, deputy secretary-general of Hebei's provincial government has previously stated publicly that the production industries in his province are often unduly emphasized. However, there are reason to note it: in Hebei Province, steel making, building material, rock quarrying, electric plants and other “highly polluting” industries are more concentrated than in other places: the production of steel in Hebei constitutes a full quarter of the entire national output, the consumption of energy is the second-highest in the country, and the energy consumption per unit of GDP is higher than the national average of 59%. Coal smoke or other kernel-type pollutants are especially prevalent in Hebei; as well, nitrous oxide and other smoke and dust-type materials are found in Hebei at the highest concentrations recorded throughout the country, while recordings for sulfur dioxide emissions are the second highest in the country.  

The recently published “Action and Implementation Plan for the Prevention and Solution to Air Pollution for the Province of Hebei” has issued a directive that states Hebei Province will by 2017 cut down on the use of coal by 40 million tons, phase out the production of steel by 60 million tons, as well as a whole host of other actions in order to reduce the yearly PM 2.5 levels by 25% of what they were in 2012.

“Personnel will be vigorously mobilized…”

Fang Liceng, the Deputy Director of the Department of Environmental Protection for the City of Beijing, announced on a prior occasion that personnel will be vigorously mobilized throughout all sectors of society in order to implement the cleaning of Northern China’s air over the next five years; as well, a total of 1 trillion RMB is expected to be invested throughout all sectors of society, of which government departments are expected to invest 200 to 300 billion RMB. Some experts are predicting that for Beijing’s neighbor Tianjin to reduce their PM 2.5 levels to 25% of those recorded in 2012, the smallest amount required to be invested will be 100 billion RMB.

Zhao Hualin, former Director of the Department of Pollution Prevention for the Ministry of Environmental Protection, had previously disclosed that investment required to address the “top polluted places” in China will require 1.7 trillion RMB, making the 5 billion RMB look like pennies. However, many experts have said that this number includes expansive contributions made by businesses and from throughout society. These experts also think that this fund in the amount of 5 billion RMB from the Ministry of Finance is for this year alone, and that the centralized ministry will continue to invest in areas throughout China as they are governed.

System of verifying the decision

Information released by the Ministry of Finance states that there are three parts to the “allocation of funds based upon merit” system: the expected reduction of emissions from Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and their combined surrounding vicinity; the amount already invested towards government action solving the pollution problem; and lastly, the ratio by which PM 2.5 levels are reduced.

“At the moment, the Pollution Prevention Department of the Ministry for Environmental Protection is formulating a system of verification.” Despite a number of sources stating that allocation decisions have already been made, officially there has been silence. A source with close ties with the Ministry of Environmental Protection states that after this process of verification is completed, the report is made to the State Council of China whereupon it will be published. According to the “Action Plan”, the system of verification is made by the State Council in which every province and territory (including various cities) will have their annual tasks verified at the beginning of each year.

At the end of the year the Ministry will conduct an investigation into how the six provinces have performed in preventing and solving Northern China’s air pollution and according to these results funds will be awarded.

An environmental official states that the Ministry of Environmental Protection is responsible for these verification checks as well as administering tasks and matters related to the prevention and solution of air pollution in Northern China, while it is the Ministry of Finance that will provide detailed instructions on how to spend the funds.

A person involved in the air pollution industry states that this system of “administering funds based upon merit” requires a complex evaluation system. If it were to be implemented this year, it is possible that we won’t see the effects of this plan on pollution levels due to time restrictions; rather, evaluation of the reduction of emissions should be based on the effectiveness of the plan after all the necessary actions have been completed.

 

Source: wenxuecity.com

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Keywords: PM2.5 air pollution in northern China Northern China’s air

4 Comments

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Guest2637770

Too much for pollution controll

Jun 12, 2014 02:45 Report Abuse

tsonj

I hope morality prevails.

Nov 19, 2013 08:58 Report Abuse

DrMonkey

Not insulated or very poorly insulated flats, built by the dozen of millions during the last 20 years. Electric heating/cooling in those flats, which is very wasteful due to the lack of insulation. Electricity made with coal, which is notoriously bad in term of emissions. Yeah, that electricity used to heat/cool poorly insulated flats :p So, then, what ? Lots of nuclear plants to keep waste electricity, but a cleaner electricity ? People sponsored to insulate their flats ? Properly built accommodation ? Or a few top guys keeping most of the 5 billions in their pockets in exchange of a token effort ?

Oct 31, 2013 10:30 Report Abuse

Nessquick

So, they will mostly only check and spend money on machines, which will monitor the pollution, than some people will faking report, receive money, and continue in the same loop until the 5 bil. is "re-located". Than, will be open a new fund to fight with the pollution in the very same manner. Or, I did not get any information, what are the tools for reducing this sh!t in the air and water...

Oct 31, 2013 09:33 Report Abuse