- Title: CHINA-POLLUTION/PARLIAMENT Beijingers battle for fresh air in the city of smog
- Date: 4th March 2015
- Summary: LIU'S DAUGHTER, ONE AND A HALF YEAR OLD, LIU YUNSHU, LOOKING VARIOUS OF LIU'S WIFE TURNING ON THE AIR PURIFIER VARIOUS OF THE LIU FAMILY PLAYING TOGETHER (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) MEDICAL PRODUCTS SALESMAN, LIU RUIQIANG, SAYING: "[I feel] Helpless. Because this is what the environment is like, every day we're being affected by this pollution that surrounds us, if we don't thi
- Embargoed: 19th March 2015 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: China
- Country: China
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAA2X3BXZ2LCNZ4O9MZ4Y6L8232
- Story Text: Liu Ruiqiang put up with Beijing's chronic smog for years, but he didn't want to take any chances when his daughter was born.
The salesman now carries a handheld pollution sensor wherever he goes. On days when air pollution reaches hazardous levels, his toddler daughter is kept at home, where a pair of constantly whirring air purifiers makes it safer to breathe.
"At the moment the air quality is 309 micrograms per cubic metre, that counts as serious pollution, severe pollution," said Liu after taking a reading outside his home.
Even behind the closed doors and windows of his third floor apartment the readings are still five times the 20 micrograms maximum recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
"[I feel] Helpless. Because this is what the environment is like, every day we're being affected by this pollution that surrounds us, if we don't think of a way to balance it out or find some basic ways to help us recover, eventually our health will be destroyed," he said.
Liu, who says he's a lower-middle class Beijinger, estimates he has spent over 40,000 yuan ($6,375) in the past year or two to try and counter the effects of pollution on little Yunshu who is one and a half years old.
Like millions of China's residents, he and his family are paying the price for decades of red-hot economic growth that has lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty, but has taken a toll on the country's environment due to rapid industrialization.
Over the past seven years, levels of particulate matter measuring less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter (PM2.5) in Beijing's air averaged out at nearly five times the recommended daily level set by the WHO, according to data from a monitoring station at the U.S. embassy.
The medical implications of sustained exposure are sobering. A study by Greenpeace and scientists at Peking University based on 2013 data attributed over 257,000 premature deaths in 31 Chinese cities to PM2.5, making it a bigger killer than smoking.
Rising public discontent over the state of China's environment has proved a powerful catalyst for change amid signs the government is starting to take the environment seriously.
In his opening address to parliament in 2014, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced China would "declare war on pollution", and with 2015's main political gathering just around the corner, the government is proving increasingly vocal on tackling pollution.
"Dealing with air pollution more quickly doesn't just benefit the more than 100 million people living in the Hebei, Beijing and Tianjin area. I think the influence of the capital and the surrounding areas will speed up tackling pollution across the entire country," said Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee spokesman, Lu Xinhua, on Monday (March 3).
China put a new environment law into effect at the start of 2015, and can now impose unlimited fines and even prison sentences on officials who fail to conform with new standards.
It has appointed an inexperienced outsider as its new environment minister to breathe life into a massive clean-up campaign. Advocates are hoping that Chen Jining, 51, an environmental scientist and president of China's prestigious Tsinghua University, will bring his expertise to the task that even optimists say will take decades to complete.
Environmental advocates caution that even with political will at the top, the challenges are daunting.
"In think there are still great difficulties. One is in terms of implementation, to really turn these goals into reality means that the current laws have to make polluters pay, the current laws must be strict enough and be powerful enough that they can be implemented, especially in terms of our environmental protection bureau, which is still quite a week department," said Greenpeace Head Of Climate And Energy Campaign, Li Yan.
As members of China's increasingly environmentally-minded middle class gathered for an annual fun run in aid of healthy living and environmental protection at the weekend, many hoped the government was serious in its promise to tackle pollution.
"We also hope that the government can do something for our environment, and also we should all work together on this issue and solve this problem. I don't want the air quality to still be so bad in twenty years time," said 24 year old teacher Wu Jing.
" 'Declaring war' is a good thing. But not if it's something that's fake and is only done at certain times to show other people. What we need in our lives is something that's real," said activist, Hu Jia.
Beijing has vowed to reverse the damage done to its skies, rivers and soil during China's three-decade dash for growth, putting its under-resourced environment ministry under pressure to deliver results. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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