Prime Minister urges efforts to combat air pollution; billion-yuan fund allocated to 11 provinces

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This article is reproduced! Recently, Premier ** of the State Council issued important directives regarding air pollution control. **It was pointed out that efforts to prevent and control air pollution have begun to yield results, with various parties involved having done a great deal of work. There is still a long way to go. The Ministry of Environmental Protection must continue to work closely with relevant departments and local authorities to implement various prevention and control measures, so as to increase the amount of blue skies and satisfy the public. It is understood that in 2015, the central government planned to allocate 11.5 billion yuan in special funds; to date, 10.6 billion yuan has been disbursed in two tranches, with 11 provinces and municipalities including Beijing, Hebei, and Henan receiving support from the central government. Yang Jintian, deputy chief engineer at the Environmental Planning Institute of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, said in an interview with reporters that, at a **macro level, investment in air pollution control is increasing. However, to meet the targets set for air quality standards, it is necessary to reduce the total emissions of various pollutants by more than half compared to the current levels, which is a very challenging task. Is inadequate pollution control a reason to lose one’s position? In the first half of this year, the average PM2.5 concentrations in the three key areas all saw significant reductions. Among them, the figure in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region decreased by 22% on a year-on-year basis, that in the Yangtze River Delta dropped by 16.2%, and it declined by 20.5% in the Pearl River Delta; the average decline across the 74 key cities was 17.1%. Not only PM2.5, but also the average concentrations of PM10, SO2, and NO2 showed a significant decline on a year-on-year basis. The 74 key cities saw declines of 13.9%, 19.4%, and 9.1% respectively. In September 2013, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control (also known as the \"Ten Measures for Air Quality\”), which set out the goals for addressing air pollution over a five-year period. To implement the requirements of the \"Ten Measures for Air Pollution Control,\" the central government has established a special fund for air pollution prevention and control to assist key areas in addressing serious air pollution issues. It is understood that in 2013, the central government allocated 5 billion yuan in special funds to support efforts aimed at preventing and controlling air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and its surrounding areas; Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Inner Mongolia, and Shanxi all benefited from this funding. In 2014, the central government allocated 9.8 billion yuan in special funds to provide support primarily to 10 provinces in three regions; in addition to the aforementioned 6 provinces, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Shanghai also received support for air pollution control. In 2015, the central government planned to allocate 11.5 billion yuan in special funds; 10.6 billion yuan has been disbursed in two tranches to date, and Henan Province, along with those 10 other provinces, has received support from the central government. In addition to increasing the allocation of dedicated funds and expanding their coverage, the reform of the assessment systems for local authorities has also become a powerful tool to encourage them to accelerate efforts in air pollution control. In July this year, the 14th meeting of the Central Committee’s Deep Reforms Steering Group approved documents such as the \"Environmental Protection Inspection Plan (Trial)\", the \"Pilot Plan for Conducting Audits of Leading Cadres’ Management of Natural Resources and Assets upon Leaving Office\", and the \"Measures for Holding Party and Government Leading Cadres Accountable for Ecological and Environmental Damage (Trial)\". At its core, it is to incorporate ecological performance assessments into the cadre evaluation system and gradually develop them into institutionalized arrangements. Under this series of institutional arrangements, various regions have come to realize that development is a sign of success, and pollution control is also a sign of success; in fact, air pollution prevention and control represents an even greater achievement. No ruler wants to lose points in this regard, as it could mean losing face as well as their position. Data shows that solely in the jurisdiction of the North China Environmental Inspection Center, 57 officials in total—29 from Cangzhou City, 7 from Zhumadian City, 3 from Baoding City, and 18 from Chengde City—were reprimanded, warned, or removed from their positions after being summoned for discussion. Two years since the implementation of the \"Ten Measures for Air Pollution Control\" in sectors such as industry, initial results have been achieved in efforts to prevent and control air pollution. Regarding the initial positive results, Zhu Jianping, deputy director of the Environmental Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, believes that these are reflected in three main aspects: an improvement in environmental quality, an enhanced awareness among various levels of government and the public regarding air pollution control, and progress in strengthening environmental monitoring capabilities and technical standards. However, in terms of air pollution control, the fact that \"there is still a long way to go\" remains undeniable. Yang Jintian believes that the overall air pollution situation remains quite severe, with levels of PM2.5 and PM10 exceeding acceptable limits, and the air quality is still in a very poor state. “The harder it is to make improvements as it goes on. ”Zhu Jianping warned that the situation of air pollution in our country remains severe, with pollution levels still high. Improving air quality is a long-term process, and it is possible that there may be setbacks or reversals along the way. Wang Jian, deputy director of the Pollution Prevention and Control Department under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, explained that, based on the assessment results of the \"Ten Measures for Air Pollution Control\" in 2014, tasks such as the adjustment and optimization of the industrial structure, clean production, control of total coal consumption, and the phasing out of vehicles with yellow license plates were carried out fairly well, with an average score rate of over 80%. The performance in areas such as building energy efficiency, heating metering, and funding for air pollution control is average, with an average score rate ranging from 50% to 80%. It is worth noting that the performance in tasks such as industrial air pollution control, the clean use of solid coal, environmental management of motor vehicles, and the prohibition of burning straw was poor, with an average score rate below 50%. In response, the Ministry of Environmental Protection explained that it is foreseeable that those with lower scoring rates will be the areas that need to be strengthened next. “The key is to significantly reduce the total amount of pollutants emitted while maintaining rapid economic growth. The current level of emissions is the result of years of accumulation, and it is extremely difficult to cut it down substantially. ”Yang Jintian said that improving air quality is a systematic task that involves structural adjustments, phasing out outdated production capacities, optimizing the industrial structure, and strengthening end-of-pipe treatment measures. Achieving the required air quality standards remains a very challenging goal.