December 03, 2008

China to miss pollution reduction goals for 2007

According to China State Environmental Protection Administration China has managed to cut emissions of sulphur dioxide in January to June 2007 but is likely to miss reduction targets for 2007.

China’s State Environmental Protection Administration said emissions of sulphur dioxide have fallen 0.88% to 12.63 million tonnes in January to June 2007. It attributed the fall in sulphur dioxide emissions to the installation of more desulfurizing facilities in coal fire power plants and the closing of 5.5MW of small coal fired plants.

State Environmental Protection Administration official said that “While power capacity increased by 18.3%, the sulphur dioxide emission dropped by 5.2% which offsets the emission from other industries. Although we have made some progress, the situation of cutting emissions remains grim."

According to a report by the environment watchdog State Environmental Protection Administration reported that 62% of 585 Chinese cities regularly suffer from air pollution and have no centralized sewage treatment facilities. The figure was 7.3% points lower than for 2005. 39 cities had severe air pollution and were put on agency's black list. The report further found that the ratio of quality water in the major urban areas either for drinking or industrial use had dropped by 7.2%.

In a separate statement, State Environmental Protection Administration said heavy polluters would be blocked from filing for IPO in China's booming stock market. Companies now must get environmental clearance from the State Environmental Protection Administration if they want to go public.

China has pledged to cut emissions of several major pollutants by 10% between 2006 and 2010 but is already well behind targets for sulphur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand a measure of water pollution that has increased by 0.24% so far 2007.