Beijing’s air quality improvements are a model for other cities

In 1998 Beijing declared war on air pollution. The challenge was to find ways to improve air quality in one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the developing world. 20 years on and it appears that Beijing is winning the battle. Air quality has improved substantially, and the lessons learned provide a roadmap for other cities tackling air pollution.

A new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) and the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau (BEE) outlines how Beijing’s air quality management programme has evolved over the past quarter century and makes recommendations for near, medium, and long-term steps that Beijing can take to maintain its momentum toward clean air.

The report, A Review of 20 years’ Air Pollution Control in Beijing, was compiled by a UN Environment-led team of international and Chinese experts over two years. It covers 1998 to the end of 2017.

“This improvement in air quality didn’t happen by accident. It was the result of an enormous investment of time, resources and political will,” said Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment. “Understanding Beijing’s air pollution story is crucial for any nation, district or municipality that wishes to follow a similar path.”

He Kebin, the principal author of the report and Dean of Tsinghua University’s School of Environment, said Beijing progressed between 1998 to 2013, but that there were even more significant improvements under Beijing’s Clean Air Action Plan 2013–2017.  

In 1998, air pollution in Beijing was dominated by coal-combustion and motor vehicles. Major pollutants exceeded national limits. Over the next 15 years Beijing implemented a series of measures focused on energy infrastructure optimization, coal-fired pollution control, and vehicle emission controls. By 2013 levels of air pollutants had fallen (see graph below) and some pollutants, like carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxides, met national standards.

In 2013 Beijing adopted more systematic and intensive measures for air pollution control. By the end of 2017 fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) fell by 35% and by 25% in the surrounding Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Much of this reduction came from measures to control coal-fired boilers, provide cleaner domestic fuels, and industrial restructuring. Over this period annual emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM10) and volatile organic compounds in Beijing decreased by 83%, 43%, 55% and 42% respectively.