Report says Chinese living 2 years longer due to air quality progress
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00:00 This is a report that confirms what anyone who lives in Beijing already sees and feels
00:05 and breathes.
00:06 I was here a decade ago when people living in China were calling the situation an "airpocalypse".
00:11 There was heavy smog day in and day out almost all year round.
00:14 Now in the Chinese capital, clear skies are the norm, at least in the summer months.
00:19 This is because in 2014 the government launched a war against air pollution.
00:23 This meant a crackdown on factories and how their emissions are released on construction
00:27 sites and how their dust is disposed of.
00:30 They also banned old vehicles from the road.
00:32 And the results seem striking.
00:34 A reported 42% decrease in air pollution throughout the country.
00:39 At 31.6 micrograms per meter cubed, the levels are in line with the Chinese government's
00:44 own targets.
00:45 That said, this is still more than six times the WHO's guideline levels.
00:50 And most of all, China still depends on coal for two thirds of its electricity.
00:55 Last year the country approved the equivalent of two new coal plants a week.
00:59 And that is four times more than in 2021.
01:03 These projects are likely to take place in regions mostly far away from cities such as
01:08 Beijing or Shanghai, where the population could complain as long as pollution remains
01:13 out of sight and out of mind for the middle classes.
01:16 The authorities seem to be in no particular hurry to fight climate change.
01:21 has actually pledged to reach carbon neutrality only by 2060.