Better Beijing



Beijing itself achieved a 2% year on year decline in PM2.5 during this time, which was reached despite less favorable weather conditions than the previous year and a relaxation of industrial output restrictions. In the region as a whole, weather conditions remained much more favorable than during the most polluted winter seasons, but not as good as previous winter which saw strong winds from the northern grasslands for much of the winter. Less favorable weather conditions account for a part of the rebound in pollution levels, but even accounting for weather there was little to no progress.

Major improvements were seen in a number of southern provinces where thermal power generation fell and heavy industry output cooled, compounding the effects of air quality policies. PM2.5 levels fell by over 20% in Guangdong and Guangxi and over 10% in neighboring Fujian and Hunan.

Coal consumption outside the provinces that are a part of the Beijing air pollution control area increased by 3% over the same period, slowing to zero growth on the first quarter.



For the past two years, environmental regulators have expended heroic efforts to keep air pollution levels falling while industrial output and coal consumption climb. As PM2.5 pollution tends to peak in the winter, they have also pushed industrial output to summer months, contributing to worsening summertime ozone episodes.

This winter’s defeat in key northern China cities suggests that it is getting harder and harder to maintain air quality improvements unless coal consumption starts falling again.

China’s record improvements in air quality since 2012 have shown how enforcing strong emissions standards and shifting away from coal can reduce pollution and save lives. The next step is long-term planning away from coal and heavy industry. Future air quality gains are dependent on successfully reducing reliance on coal through accelerated clean energy investment and by setting strong coal reduction targets in energy plans and targets beyond 2020.