China Sets 2012 Pollution Reduction Goals

China, earnest in its campaign to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions through 2015, has set a pollution reduction goal for 2012.

On Wednesday, the world's second-largest economy which happens to be also the world's biggest energy consumer, announced that for the coming year 2012, it aims to reduce by 2 per cent its sulfur dioxide (SO2) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) as well as ammonia nitrogen by 1.5 per cent, apart from maintaining zero growth in the emission of nitrogen oxides, the Xinhua News reported.

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, during the National Environmental Protection Conference, reported the country's emissions of SO2 and COD had dropped by about 2 per cent in 2011, exceeding a pre-set goal of 1.5 per cent.

However, ammonia nitrogen emissions only fell by 0.9 per cent while nitrogen oxide emissions grew by 7.2 per cent.

The ministry likewise announced it will modify the present standards used in monitoring the country's air pollution.

Countries worldwide have been using the PM2.5 measurement to check air quality. China's Beijing meteorological authorities, however, still use the PM10 standard. PM2.5 gauges the finest particles in air while PM10 measures only coarser particles. The ministry added China will also add measures to include ozone and carbon monoxide into its pollution monitoring system.

Under the Kyoto Protocol, China, along with fellow emerging economy India, have sworn to cooperate toward an international treaty that would include limiting the fossil fuel emissions of both industrialised nations as well as emerging economies like theirs.

The Kyoto Protocol focused on how to control the fuel emissions of already industrialised nations, and developing nations such as China and India had no commitments under Kyoto. The earlier version effectively allowed the poorest nations to evade commitments and regulations on coal burning emissions while the industrialised nations take up most of the burden to clean up the atmosphere.

China and India have become two of the world's three biggest polluters since the pact was agreed in 1997.