17-03-2014, 10:22 PM
Quite a bit of changes by 2020...
China vows to clean up 60% of cities by 2020
17 Mar 2014 14:13
[BEIJING] China pledged on Sunday that it will make sure that 60 per cent of its cities meet national pollution standards by 2020, with pressure growing to make cities liveable as hundreds of millions of migrants are expected to relocate from the countryside.
China's environmental problems such as pollution and water scarcity are expected to intensify as rapid migration pushes urban infrastructures to the limit. Almost all Chinese cities monitored for pollution last year failed to meet the standards.
The environment has emerged as a key priority amid growing public disquiet about smog, dwindling and polluted water supplies and the contamination of farmland. Poor air quality is estimated to end hundreds of thousands of lives prematurely each year and has led to a series of riots and public protests.
The pledge to clean up the nation's major metropolitan centres was made in a State Council plan for how to deal with China's rapid urbanisation drive. "We will improve and promote green, sustainable and low carbon development in the urbanisation process, enforcing the strictest measures on ecological and environmental systems," the plan said.
According to the State Council, 60 per cent of the cities will meet national air quality standards in 2020, which it said was up from 40 percent in 2012.
...
Ref: Business Times Breaking News
China vows to clean up 60% of cities by 2020
17 Mar 2014 14:13
[BEIJING] China pledged on Sunday that it will make sure that 60 per cent of its cities meet national pollution standards by 2020, with pressure growing to make cities liveable as hundreds of millions of migrants are expected to relocate from the countryside.
China's environmental problems such as pollution and water scarcity are expected to intensify as rapid migration pushes urban infrastructures to the limit. Almost all Chinese cities monitored for pollution last year failed to meet the standards.
The environment has emerged as a key priority amid growing public disquiet about smog, dwindling and polluted water supplies and the contamination of farmland. Poor air quality is estimated to end hundreds of thousands of lives prematurely each year and has led to a series of riots and public protests.
The pledge to clean up the nation's major metropolitan centres was made in a State Council plan for how to deal with China's rapid urbanisation drive. "We will improve and promote green, sustainable and low carbon development in the urbanisation process, enforcing the strictest measures on ecological and environmental systems," the plan said.
According to the State Council, 60 per cent of the cities will meet national air quality standards in 2020, which it said was up from 40 percent in 2012.
...
Ref: Business Times Breaking News