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Clean air action plan approved
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Caixin reports that the State Council has approved a new three-year clean air action plan. The plan sets new targets for 2020, including achieving over 80% “good air” days and reducing the concentration of PM 2.5 by 18% from 2015 levels in cities. The three-year plan will also prohibit new steel, coking and electrolytic aluminum production capacity in key areas and increase the proportion of freight railway transportation while discouraging the use of vehicles that have been in use for more than 20 years. In a statement, Premier Li Keqiang emphasised prioritising electric heating over gas as part of the ongoing clean heating campaign in northern China.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment also announced it will strengthen air quality inspection in key areas from 2018-2019. In efforts to fight “The Blue Sky Battle”, the Ministry plans to mobilise 18,000 inspectors to target key areas with high air pollution. Expanding the scope of the supervision from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Ministry will also cover the Fenwei Plain and Yangtze River Delta Region. The enhanced supervision began on June 11 and will extend to April 28, 2019.
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Beijing looks ahead to ‘low carbon’ Winter Olympics
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China again vowed that the Winter Olympics in 2022 will be climate friendly. On June 13, which was marked by China’s 6th “National Low Carbon Day”, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Beijing Olympic Games Organising Committee, and the Beijing Municipal People’s Government announced a plan to curb carbon emissions at the games.
The “Low Carbon Winter Olympics Initiative” includes a transregional carbon emission trading agreement between Beijing and neighbouring city Chengde, and a plan from co-host city Zhang Jiajie to create a “Low Carbon Olympics Special Zone” in Chongli county. A slew of new energy demonstration projects were also announced, including help for six impoverished counties to receive subsidised distributed solar energy. The specifics of these projects are yet to be revealed.
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Transboundary ivory buyers keen to repurchase
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Caixin reports on a study conducted by Beijing Normal University and Globe Scan, which found that half of purchasers of ivory products polled at six Chinese cities did so during holidays or trips abroad. Released June 12, the study looked at the consumption of an array of illegal animal products from elephants, pangolins, rhinoceroses and tigers.
Although the ivory trade was banned in China in December 2017, just 44% of study respondents said they had heard of the ivory ban. The survey found that many consumers who bought ivory products purchased them for friends believing they were rare, pure, and could bring good luck and good health. The study also found that 82% of those who have purchased ivory products over the last year plan to do so again, while rhino horns, pangolin and tiger products are not as desirable for repurchase.
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Wild orchids risk extinction warns plant protection association
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Conservation group China Wild Plant Protection Association has called on orchid lovers to stop gathering rare, wild species and instead settle for cultivated orchids. According to a joint study by 80 researchers from various institutions published in 2017, wild orchids are on the verge of extinction in China, with 90 species registered as being critically endangered on the IUCN red list, accounting for 15% of all critically endangered wildlife species in China. A spokesperson from the China Wild Plant Protection Association said that a craze for extremely rare and “collectable” wild orchids was to blame for the loss of wild orchids.
High demand for certain species of orchid stems from their perceived medicinal value, such as the dendrobium orchid, and the perception of status associated with owning orchids. Despite the rapid decline of wild orchids, conservation has been difficult because the plants were not included in China’s list of protected wildlife published in 1999. Campaigners are calling for the inclusion of wild orchids in an updated version of the list which is yet to be published. Wild orchids are an important element in the rainforest ecological system, the removal of which affects trees, insects and fungi.
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