China's
prime minister has vowed to tackle the country's environmental crisis,
making a "war" on pollution one of his nine "major tasks"
for 2014.
"We will resolutely declare war against pollution as we declared war
against poverty," said Li Keqiang to nearly 3,000 delegates at the
National People's Congress (NPC).
While there were blue skies over Beijing for the first day of the NPC's annual
meetings, the capital has been blanketed with filthy air in recent weeks.
"Smog is affecting larger parts of China, and environmental pollution has
become a major problem, which is nature's red-light warning against the
model of inefficient and blind development," said Mr Li.
The industrial heartlands of northern China, where almost half the world's
steel is smelted, have suffered terrible pollution for decades.
But public awareness, and anger, about the health risks from pollution spiked
after the United States embassy in Beijing began tweeting data on the air
quality in 2009.
Mr Li promised that 50,000 "small coal-fired furnaces" would be shut down in the coming year and six million old, high-emission, vehicles would be taken off the roads. Coal-fired power plants will be upgraded and energy conservation would be encouraged.
"Governments at all levels and the whole society should act more vigorously to protect the land our lives depend on," he said.
Chinese environmentalists greeted Mr Li's speech with cautious approval.
However, experts said China's pollution problems are near impossible to fix in the short-term.
Greenpeace estimates that almost 60 per cent of the most harmful air pollution in Beijing comes from coal-fired power plants, or from burning coal to power steel plants or brick and cement factories.
According to research by Gavekal Dragonomics, meeting Beijing's pollution targets will require a ten per cent cut in coal consumption over the next four years. But China's dependence on coal shows no sign of waning: last year consumption rose by 2.5 per cent.
Nor is there any sign that China is succeeding in reducing the footprint of its steel industry.
Mr Li promised that China would cut 27 million tons of steelmaking capacity this year and cut cement production by 42 million tons.
However, industry officials have suggested that steel plants with another 30 million tons of capacity are currently under construction.
In its own report, the Finance ministry promised to spend 21.1 billion yuan (£2.1 billion) on energy conservation and environmental production, a rise of 7.1 per cent. It added that 64.9 billion yuan will be spent on agriculture, forestry and water conservation, an 8.6 per cent increase.
Mr Li promised that 50,000 "small coal-fired furnaces" would be shut down in the coming year and six million old, high-emission, vehicles would be taken off the roads. Coal-fired power plants will be upgraded and energy conservation would be encouraged.
"Governments at all levels and the whole society should act more vigorously to protect the land our lives depend on," he said.
Chinese environmentalists greeted Mr Li's speech with cautious approval.
However, experts said China's pollution problems are near impossible to fix in the short-term.
Greenpeace estimates that almost 60 per cent of the most harmful air pollution in Beijing comes from coal-fired power plants, or from burning coal to power steel plants or brick and cement factories.
According to research by Gavekal Dragonomics, meeting Beijing's pollution targets will require a ten per cent cut in coal consumption over the next four years. But China's dependence on coal shows no sign of waning: last year consumption rose by 2.5 per cent.
Nor is there any sign that China is succeeding in reducing the footprint of its steel industry.
Mr Li promised that China would cut 27 million tons of steelmaking capacity this year and cut cement production by 42 million tons.
However, industry officials have suggested that steel plants with another 30 million tons of capacity are currently under construction.
In its own report, the Finance ministry promised to spend 21.1 billion yuan (£2.1 billion) on energy conservation and environmental production, a rise of 7.1 per cent. It added that 64.9 billion yuan will be spent on agriculture, forestry and water conservation, an 8.6 per cent increase.
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