Air Quality Management Initiatives in the UNDP Air Pollution Control Programme

摘要

Chinese major cities are characterized by some of the highest levels of criterion air pollutants in the world. Among the top ten most polluted cities in the world monitored by the WHO Global Environmental Monitoring System (GEMS) in 1992, three belonged to China-Beijing, Xi'an and Shenyang. According to a more recent report of the World Resources Institute presented in 1999 (Davies, 1999), nine out of the top ten most polluted cities in the world belong to China. Over the past two decades, the Chinese government-at the national, provincial and local levels-has undertaken a series of actions designed to curtail air pollution, including the following measures: 1. promulgation of a series of laws, regulations and standards; 2. establishment of a series of governmental organizations responsible to environmental protection, environmental monitoring, cleaner production, energy conservation, and Agenda 21; 3. investment for the construction of dust removal devices, central heating systems and cleaner combustion facilities, such as town gas plants, natural gas pipelines, and liquefied petroleum gas distribution systems. Nevertheless, the annual TSP and SO_2 levels in major cities remain exceeding ambient air standards. The NO_x levels in some cities like Guangzhou and Beijing are still increasing. It is, therefore, important to review and analyze what policies work in air pollution control in China and why they work; and what policies do not work and why not. The UNDP urban air pollution control programme aims at capacity building for pollution control in pilot cities by reviewing the success and failure of present management actions for air pollution control, by training the local officers, and by recommending policy changes.