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Beijing unveils new package of measures to curb pollution
September 3, 2013
Beijing unveils new package of measures to curb pollution
Beijing’s municipal government released new measures to cut down on vehicle emissions in a bid to reduce the city’s spiraling smog and pollution levels. The measures include restricting the number of new cars, promoting new energy vehicles, enforcing traffic controls, and adding more than 480 kilometers of bus lanes and introducing a public bike rental scheme.
The package of measures is part of an action plan from the government which aims to cut the density of PM2.5 25% by 2017, to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter. PM2.5 is an air pollutant that is linked to sever health risks, and which reached an extremely toxic level of 382 earlier in the summer. In the first six months of 2013, the average density of PM2.5 was 115 micrograms; more than three times the regulated daily standard of 35 for most countries.
Changhua Wu, Greater China Director, The Climate Group, said: “Control of vehicular pollution is one of the biggest priorities for Beijing to address its notorious air pollution. I applaud the recent intensive actions taken by the municipal government to adopt a more integrated approach to tackle the PM2.5 challenge. In the last decades, we have witnessed literally the pathway Beijing has taken; from bicycle-friendly city to a traffic-jammed city, with a rapidly rising air pollution concern. The specific targets set today, if taken seriously, are expected to turn the situation around.”
Read more at The Clean Revolution.
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