Give Beijing Some Breathing Space 
Author : Achim Steiner
Date : August 19th, 2008
Images of the Beijing sky-line, seemingly bathed in a soup of smog and haze have been never far from the world’s TV screens over recent days and weeks.
International reporters with hand-held air pollution detectors have been popping up on street corners checking the levels of soot and dust.
Everyone seems keen to prove that the city’s air will be a decisive and debilitating factor for one of the world’s most high profile sporting events.
Without doubt Beijing is facing a huge challenge. There are real and understandable concerns for the health of competitors, especially those in endurance and long distance events such as cycling and the marathon.
But the current frenzied focus is marked by a modicum of amnesia—air pollution was a major concern in Los Angeles 24 years ago.
Indeed few can forget the dramatic scenes at the end of the women’s marathon when the Swiss competitor was seen staggering and stumbling under the weight of heat and perhaps air pollution exhaustion.
Air quality was also an issue for the subsequent games in, for example Atlanta, Barcelona, Seoul and Athens.
In respect to 2008, some level of fair play should be part of the debate.
Real and hopefully long lasting achievements have been made by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, the city as a whole; the government and the six provinces concerned.
Ones all the more remarkable when set against the city’s double-digit economic growth and the fact that this is being staged in a developing, rather than developed economy with all the social, health, developmental and environmental challenges this entails.
Let me share a few examples. As a result of a $17 billion investment, over 90 per cent per cent of the city’s wastewater is now treated; over 50 per cent of the city is forested and natural gas accounts for more than 60 per cent of energy generation—up from some 45 per cent in 2000.
Meanwhile eight new railway lines, covering 200km and with a daily capacity of close to four million people have become operational this year alongside 60km of bus rapid transport systems.
New vehicle emission standards now meet the most stringent equivalent European standards and are higher than in the United States.
50,000 old taxis and 10,000 buses have been scrapped and replaced with new ones and 4,000 of these buses are powered by natural gas—now the largest fleet of its kind in the world.
Some 200 polluting industries have been closed; switched to new kinds of cleaner production or moved out of the city over the past seven years.
These actions do not include the attention to eco-detail at the Olympic venues themselves such as the 400,000 square metre Olympic Village.
Here water reclaimed from the Qinghe sewage treatment plant is being utilized for heating and cooling systems with an estimated 60 per cent in electrical savings.
In recent days the authorities have also requested businesses to stagger the working day in the run up, during and after the Olympic Games to reduce traffic volumes alongside a raft of other traffic cutting measures.
Only time will tell if all these actions will bring air pollution down to acceptable levels. UNEP will certainly make this a focus of its post-Games report: building on the initial one issued in 2007.
But it is clear that Beijing is striving to be part of the Green Team – one that is now central to the modern Olympic movement and increasingly part of other big sporting events such as the Green Goals for the 2006 and now 2010 FIFA World Cups.
The public awareness raised, the ability to showcase new and more sustainable ways of managing an urban setting and the legacy of more environmentally-friendly energy, transport and infrastructure should also not be underestimated.
Humanity is currently engaged in a far reaching and more urgent marathon—one that is pitting the need to embed a 21st century Green Economy against the rapid implosion of our climate and natural life support systems.
The catalytic and inspirational possibilities of events like the Olympics have thus a wider role to play—one that might just assist in us in reaching that other winning tape far faster before we stagger and collapse under the weight of our environmental degradation.
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Chinese
Date : September 9th, 2008 03:08:26
Dear Mr. Steiner,
I agree with you. I can feel from your remarks your understanding of the Chinese efforts and your sense of mission.
I think the Beijing Olympics has set an example for beneficial interactions between China and international institutions. By linking the environmental situation to China’s national image, the event became an opportunity to encourage the Chinese government to take environment-improving measures. This has proved to be effective. It also has implications for other international organizations besides the International Olympic Committee.
Beijing is only a small part of China. It has benefited from its status as China’s showcase and the large amount of investment from the central government. Given the large population, China as a whole looks more concerned about employment than about environment. Over 24 millions new jobs need to be created every year to meet the demands of a growing labor force and the economic transition. The economic growth can only meet half of the demand for new jobs. Given the level of education of its labor force, China has not many choices but to try to become the largest factory in the world, if not the “factory of the world.” This is the basic constraint on China’s efforts to improve its environment. If our world is a house, it will take us much more efforts to clean the kitchen than the living room. I believe this is also a challenge for many developing countries like China.
-Chengqiu Wu from SIRPA
Date : September 3rd, 2008 10:44:36
Dear Achim,
Welcome to our blogger community! I am delighted that you are taking part to our exchanges. Debates will be all the richer. This first post is very interesting. Yes indeed, with an eye to the Olympics Games, China initiated significant changes, including environmental changes. We need to keep on working along with this great country in its development. Hopefully eyes attracted by the Olympics won’t turn away too quickly.
Hoping reading you and exchange soon!
Date : August 27th, 2008 11:22:19
Merci pour votre commentaire sur mon article. Les statistiques dont il est question proviennent d’une évaluation indépendante du PNUE sur les aspects environnementaux des Jeux Olympiques – Beijing 2008 qui a été publiée en octobre 2007. L’information que 90 pour cent des eaux de la ville sont aujourd’hui traitées s’appuie sur des statistiques à notre disposition dans le cadre de cette étude et concerne les eaux usées de la ville entière. Vous pouvez télécharger notre rapport à l’adresse suivante http://www.unep.org/sport_env/Activities/beijingConf07/media/index.asp. Merci de noter également que le PNUE réalisera une évaluation finale des jeux avant la fin de l’année ce qui nous donnera une autre occasion de mettre à disposition du public une analyse indépendante et vérifiable de l’impact des mesures environnementales mises en œuvre par Pékin pour les jeux olympiques 2008.
Mon article soulignait le fait que l’on peut reconnaître l’effort réalisé par les autorités chinoises et les initiatives en faveur de l’environnement prises à Pékin et dans l’ensemble du pays, mais cela ne doit pas nous empêcher de les encourager afin qu’elles renforcent leurs efforts à Pékin et mettent en place des mesures semblables dans le reste de la Chine.
Nous serions très heureux de partager les conclusions de notre rapport final sur les jeux olympiques 2008. Si vous souhaiter recevoir une copie du rapport, veuillez contacter l’Unité Sport et Environnement du PNUE en février 2009.
Malheureusement l’agenda environnemental - y compris les problématiques liées au changement climatique - se caractérise au niveau mondial par la diversité et la multitude des perspectives et des intérêts nationaux. Il s’en suit qu’au PNUE nous devons nous efforcer de baser nos évaluations et nos études sur des faits et des chiffres. Dans le cas en question, notre objectif était de documenter les efforts mis en place par Pékin afin d’utiliser l’occasion fournis par les Jeux comme une plateforme pour développer des mesures à court terme et à long terme visant à améliorer les conditions environnementales. Nos rapports sont basés sur une série de faits qui ne changent pas en fonction de notre appréciation ou celle de quiconque de la politique environnementale de la Chine et plus précisément de ses politiques en matière de changement climatique.
Date : August 26th, 2008 10:05:07
Thank you for your remarks on my article. Please note that our statistics are from a UNEP independent evaluation of the environmental aspects of the Beijing 2008 Games which was released in October 2007. The information that 90 per cent of the city’s wastewater is now treated is from our report and is based on statistics that were available to us during our assessment. This refers to wastewater in the entire city. You could download the report on http://www.unep.org/sport_env/Activities/beijingConf07/media/index.asp . Please also note that UNEP will also conduct a final assessment of the Games later this year and will again provide an independent and verifiable perspective of the impact of the environmental measures that were undertaken by Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.
My article pointed to the fact that the authorities in Beijing and China can be recognized for the range of measures that they have taken but at the same time be encouraged to strengthen their effort in Beijing and to implement similar measures in other parts of China.
We will be interested in sharing our final report on the Beijing Games with you. Please contact UNEP’s Sport and the Environment Unit in February 2009 for a copy of the report. Unfortunately the global environmental agenda - including the climate change issue - is characterized by many perspectives and national interests. Thus, UNEP’s endeavor is to base our assessments on facts, figures and specifics. In this case, we documented Beijing’s efforts to use their hosting of the Olympics as a platform for short-term and long-term measures in improving environmental conditions. We base these on a set of facts which do not change based on our or anyone else’s views on China’s climate change policy.
Che Thuy Nhu
Date : August 26th, 2008 06:40:22
I agree that we have to pay attention to the air pollution .
It seem increasing every day .
Hanoi have 4 times poluted than standard allow .
People don’t understand the value of green tree, forest for environment .They cut up the tree ( even tree has hundres years ), they destroy the forest, they cry for flood .
When I was a child , we learned about value of tree and how to growth it .But now it seem very few teachers teach children about this value .
We don’t know how to stop them cut the trees on the streets.They cut the tree , sell the wood and share money …
Chris
Date : August 25th, 2008 06:33:12
Dear Mr. Steiner,
I found your piece excellent, and very much agree with the thrust of its argument: China has done a lot over the past years for Beijing to be part of the “Green Team” in this summer of 2008. These efforts cost millions to a nation still struggling on the path of economic development; it shows how powerful incentives such as hosting the Olympics (and thus being at the centre of world attention) can be. Moreover, the Chinese government seems to have realized that its efforts should go beyond the Olympics and the capital. All of this is rather good news.
But as you suggest, the fight against climate change is a race, and I am not convinced that the international community as a whole has quite picked up the speed it would need to win it.
The Green Team just won’t be able to do without India, China, Indonesia, Brazil and central African countries. In the difficult negotiations ahead on the post-Kyoto mechanism, we will need a clever set of incentives to convince developing nations to joing the race, fast. What are, according to your experience, the most efficient incentives the international community could develop for all of the major stakeholders to be onboard? Should these be economic, technological, political, symbolic? Summer Olympics only happen every 4 years… will we have to wait for them to be hosted by New Delhi, Brazilia, Jakarta, Brazzaville?
Carmen
Date : August 22nd, 2008 06:12:53
Su artículo es muy interesante. Cada día recibimos un montón de noticias sobre los Juegos de Beijing, pero su punto de vista es verdaderamente diferente. Con respecto a las preocupaciones medioambientales es cierto que se han realizado unos progresos, pero aún queda mucho por hacer. Los daños ecológicos no se detienen a ningunas fronteras. China es un inmenso país, entonces los progresos realizados en Beijing no deben ocultar los problemas existentes en el resto del país.
Tanto los países ricos como los grandes países en desarrollo deben hacer grandes esfuerzos para buscar soluciones. Debemos reflexionar y actuar junto con los países pobres para solucionar un problema que involucra toda la humanidad.
Bobby
Date : August 19th, 2008 07:32:37
Je trouve totalement hallucinant que l’on puisse écrire cet article sur ce blog. Quelle est l’origine des données ? Le gouvernement chinois? Quand on parle de 90% de eaux de ville traitées, cela prend il en compte les centaines de quartiers sans système d’évacuation… Oui il y a des initiatives encourageantes en Chine mais il ne faut pas s’aveugler avec une ville nouvelle écologique de 300 000 habitants dans un pays qui compte des dizaines de villes nouvelles de plus d’un million d’habitants.
Non, il ne faut pas oublier la pollution de Los Angeles en 84, non, il ne faut pas oublier que les pays dit développés n’ont pas été de bons élèves dans le passé (et dans le présent) mais non, il ne faut pas applaudir les autorités de Pékin pour les travaux accomplis en matière de lutte contre la pollution.
La lutte contre le réchauffement climatique et la pollution de nos écosystèmes
doit se poursuivre sans hypocrisie et sans naïveté.