The Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in February.
On February 25th, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a regular press conference in February. Liu Bingjiang, Director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, attended the conference to introduce the effectiveness of air pollution prevention and control in 2020 and the arrangements for air pollution prevention and control in 2021 and the "Tenth Five-Year Plan". Liu Youbin, spokesperson of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, presided over the press conference, informed the recent progress of key work related to ecological environmental protection, and jointly answered questions that everyone cares about.
The picture shows the press conference.
Liu Youbin:Good morning, friends from the press! Welcome to the regular press conference of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in February.
The theme of today’s conference is: prevention and control of air pollution. We invited Director Liu Bingjiang of the Department of Atmospheric Environment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to introduce the prevention and control of air pollution and answer your concerns.
Today’s conference will be held by video link.
Now, let me introduce some recent work of our department.
First, in 2020, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will undertake all the suggestions and proposals of the two sessions.
In 2020, our department undertook 849 proposals for the "two sessions", including 532 proposals and 317 proposals, of which 232 were handled by the lead, and all of them have been completed, and we will continue to achieve the three hundred percent communication rate of the organizers, the timely completion rate and the satisfaction rate of the deputies.
Judging from the contents of the proposed proposal, on the one hand, the deputies actively put forward suggestions and suggestions on the prevention and control of pollution, including water, atmosphere, soil and solid waste pollution; On the other hand, the deputies put more ecological and environmental work into the overall situation of economic and social development, closely combined with major national development strategies and economic and social hot issues, and put forward constructive opinions and suggestions on formulating the Tenth Five-Year Plan, improving environmental and economic policies, implementing the ecological compensation system, promoting ecological protection and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin, and coordinating the prevention and control of epidemic situation and ecological and environmental protection work in economic and social development, which has positive guidance and reference significance for ecological and environmental protection work.
In the process of handling, our department closely communicated with the deputies, and communicated with them about 600 times by telephone, WeChat, remote video and face-to-face discussion. Intensify policy transformation, adopt about 150 opinions and suggestions of deputies, and introduce nearly 60 policy measures. Among the 232 suggestions and proposals handled by the lead, more than 60% of the questions raised by the deputies have been solved or the suggestions have been adopted. In the compilation and promulgation of policy documents such as Overall Work Plan for Ecological Environmental Protection of the Yellow River, Opinions on Actively Serving and Implementing the "Six Guarantees" Task under the Condition of Normalization of Epidemic Prevention and Control, Resolutely Winning and Fighting the Tough Battle of Pollution Prevention and Control, Tackling Plan for the Treatment of Volatile Organic Compounds in 2020, and Notice on Further Standardizing the Environmental Management of Sewage Treatment in Cities and Towns (Parks), the opinions and suggestions of the deputies have been fully borrowed and absorbed, and their insights have been transformed into overall promotion of ecological environmental protection and economy to the greatest extent.
This year’s "two sessions" will be held soon. We will further improve our political stance, keep in close communication with the deputies, constantly improve the quality of handling, strengthen policy transformation, gather wisdom and continuously improve the quality of the ecological environment, help the "14 th Five-Year Plan" to make a good start and celebrate the 100 th anniversary of the founding of the Party with excellent results.
Two, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other six departments issued the "Beautiful China, I am an actor" to enhance the citizens’ awareness of ecological civilization action plan.
In order to thoroughly study, publicize and implement the supreme leader’s ecological civilization thought, guide the whole society to firmly establish the value concept of ecological civilization, and strive to build a national action system for ecological environment governance, six departments, including the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Central Propaganda Department, the Central Civilization Office, the Ministry of Education, the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, and the All-China Women’s Federation, jointly formulated and issued the Action Plan for Improving Citizens’ Ecological Civilization Awareness (2021-2025) (hereinafter referred to as "Beautiful China").
Guided by Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era and the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, the Action Plan puts forward key tasks from six aspects: deepening major theoretical research, continuously promoting news propaganda, extensively mobilizing society, strengthening ecological civilization education, promoting the participation of all sectors of society, and innovating ways and means. Ten special actions, such as study, preaching, news reporting, cultural communication, moral cultivation, voluntary service, brand creation, national education, social co-construction and network communication, were deployed to cultivate ecological morality and code of conduct, continuously enhance citizens’ awareness of ecological civilization, advocate the practice of green production and lifestyle, and turn the construction of beautiful China into conscious action of the whole society.
The six departments will regularly supervise and evaluate the implementation of the Action Plan, sum up typical experiences, promote mature models, and provide role models and value guidance for all sectors of society to participate in the construction of ecological civilization.
3. The core objectives and tasks of the comprehensive management of the Bohai Sea were successfully completed.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant departments and three provinces and one city around Bohai Sea, has comprehensively promoted various tasks of the Action Plan for Comprehensive Management of Bohai Sea, and the core objectives and tasks of the tough battle have been successfully completed.
In 2020, the proportion of excellent water quality in Bohai coastal waters will reach 82.3%, an increase of 4.4 percentage points year-on-year, which is higher than the task target of 73%; Ten key sections that have been included in the special action to rectify the V-class national control sections of rivers entering the Bohai Sea have been eliminated; The investigation and remediation of sewage outlets into the sea has been carried out in a way of "combining pilot projects with comprehensive deployment", and the pilot cities have initially completed monitoring, traceability and some project remediation; A total of 8891 hectares of coastal wetlands have been rehabilitated (the target is 6900 hectares); Renovation and restoration of the coastline of 132 kilometers (the target is 70 kilometers), and the ecological environment quality of the Bohai Sea continues to improve.
In the next step, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment will continue to work with relevant departments and three provinces and one city to promote the work related to ecological environment protection in the Bohai Sea on the basis of consolidating the existing achievements, so as to make a good start for the continuous improvement of the ecological environment quality in the Bohai Sea during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period.
Liu Youbin:Next, I would like to invite Director Liu Bingjiang to introduce the situation.
Liu Bingjiang:Dear friends in the press: Good morning, everyone!
First of all, on behalf of the Atmospheric Environment Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your long-term concern and support for the prevention and control of air pollution! I would like to take this opportunity to give a brief introduction on the prevention and control of air pollution.
I. Main Work Progress
In recent years, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with relevant local departments, has thoroughly implemented the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on winning the blue sky defense war, paid close attention to the implementation of responsibilities, comprehensively completed various governance tasks, exceeded the overall objectives and quantitative indicators put forward in the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan, and successfully concluded the Three-Year Action Plan for Winning the Blue Sky Defense War.
First, accelerate the in-depth governance of key industries. Actively promote the steel, coal, coal-fired power and cement industries to resolve excess capacity. We will continue to promote the ultra-low emission transformation of coal-fired power plants, reaching a total of 950 million kilowatts, and the ultra-low emission transformation capacity of the steel industry will be 620 million tons. The "scattered pollution" in key areas is dynamically cleared. Vigorously carry out investigation and treatment of industrial furnaces and comprehensive improvement of VOCs pollution.
The second is to steadily promote the adjustment and optimization of energy structure. The proportion of coal in primary energy consumption continues to decrease. From 2017 to 2020, the proportion of coal consumption in China will drop from 60.4% to about 57%. About100,000 small coal-fired boilers with no hope of treatment will be eliminated, and coal-fired boilers below 35 tons/hour in key areas will be basically cleared. The central government supported the clean heating pilot in the northern region to achieve full coverage of "2+26" cities and Fenwei Plain, and completed the replacement of about 25 million households with loose coal.
The third is to further promote the adjustment and optimization of transportation structure. Since the end of 2015, more than 14 million old motor vehicles have been eliminated nationwide, and the number of new energy vehicles is 4.92 million, and the proportion of new energy buses has increased from 20% to over 60%. In 2020, the national railway freight volume will increase by more than 20% compared with 2017. Nationwide, the national six emission standards for light vehicles will be implemented, and the national six standard vehicle gasoline and diesel will be fully supplied.
The fourth is to continue to carry out comprehensive management in autumn and winter. Since 2017, for four consecutive years, we have carried out key actions to comprehensively control air pollution in key areas in autumn and winter. Organize the performance grading of emergency emission reduction measures for heavy polluted weather in key industries, covering 39 industries such as steel and coking, encourage "advanced" with differentiated management and control, and promote the transformation and upgrading of industries. A total of 275,000 gas-related enterprises in key areas were included in the emergency emission reduction list. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the average concentration of PM2.5 in 39 cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas and Fenwei Plain was 62 μ g/m3, down 39% from the same period in 2016; The number of days of heavy pollution decreased by 87% compared with the same period in 2016.
The fifth is to find out the causes of heavy pollution weather. After three years’ efforts, the National Joint Center for Prevention and Control of Air Pollution has achieved a number of key technological breakthroughs in the aspects of formation mechanism, impact assessment, precise control, forecasting and so on, clarified the causes of heavy air pollution in autumn and winter in the region, organized a team of experts to go deep into "2+26" cities and Fenwei Plain to carry out "one city, one policy" technical assistance, and successfully completed the Prime Minister’s fund "Research Project on Causes and Control of Heavy Air Pollution".
II. State of National Ambient Air Quality in 2020
In 2020, the overall air quality in China will improve, mainly showing the following characteristics:
First, the binding indicators of the 13 th Five-Year Plan were all overfulfilled. In 2020, the proportion of excellent days in cities at prefecture level and above will be 87%, up 5.8 percentage points from 2015 (target 3.3 percentage points); The national average concentration of PM2.5 was 33 μ g/m3, and the average concentration of cities that failed to meet the standard of PM2.5 decreased by 28.8% compared with 2015 (the target was 18%), both exceeding the requirements of the 13th Five-Year Plan.
Second, the average concentrations of six major pollutants decreased significantly year-on-year. In 2020, the national average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, O3, SO2, NO2 and CO decreased by 8.3%, 11.1%, 6.8%, 9.1%, 11.1% and 7.1% respectively. Among them, O3 concentration decreased for the first time since 2015; The concentration of NO2 decreased obviously when it remained basically unchanged for several years.
Third, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas and Fenwei Plain are relatively polluted. From the perspective of key areas, the air quality in the Yangtze River Delta is basically up to standard; The concentrations of PM2.5 and O3 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas and Fenwei Plain still exceed the national secondary standard.
Fourth, heavy pollution weather still occurs in individual areas and individual time periods. The days of severe and above pollution in the whole year mainly occur in the alternating period of winter and spring, concentrated in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and its surrounding areas, Fenwei Plain, Northeast China and Northwest China. It is a long way to go to accomplish the goal of "basically eliminating heavily polluted weather" in the 14 th Five-Year Plan.
In the next step, we will, together with relevant departments in various localities, adhere to the general tone of striving for progress while maintaining stability, adhere to the concept of system, highlight precise pollution control, scientific pollution control and pollution control according to law, and promote the continuous improvement of air quality throughout the country.
Next, I am happy to take your questions.
Liu Youbin:Next, please ask questions.
CCTV News:We know that the national air quality will be significantly improved in 2020 compared with that in 2019. How does the Ministry of Ecology and Environment consider the air quality improvement targets this year and the "14th Five-Year Plan"? Is there any hard target to constrain it? Is there any new air pollution prevention and control action plan? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. First of all, look at the completion of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" binding indicators. According to the requirements of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" for national economic and social development, in 2020, the average concentration of PM2.5 in cities below the standard level and above will decrease by 18% compared with 2015, and the ratio of excellent days in the country will increase by 3.3 percentage points compared with 2015. Now we can tell you that these two targets have been completely exceeded. According to the monitoring data, in 2020, the average concentration of PM2.5 in cities at substandard prefecture level and above decreased by 28.8% compared with that in 2015, and the ratio of excellent days in China increased by 5.8 percentage points compared with that in 2015. The completion rate exceeded 60% and 76% of the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" targets respectively. This achievement is mainly due to the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, as well as the in-depth promotion of air pollution control by various localities and departments concerned, which has greatly reduced the emission of air pollutants.
It should be noted that 2020 is the closing year of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan. Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the emission intensity has been reduced, which has played a certain role in "boosting" the goal. The National Joint Center for Air Pollution Prevention and Control has scientifically evaluated the impact of the epidemic on air quality through an internationally accepted air quality model; The results showed that the epidemic affected the concentration of PM2.5 by 2 μ g/m3 and the ratio of excellent days by 2.2 percentage points. After deducting the impact of the epidemic, the concentration of PM2.5 in substandard cities nationwide was 35 μ g/m3, down 25.0% from 2015. The ratio of excellent days was 84.8%, which was 3.6 percentage points higher than that in 2015, and still exceeded the binding targets of the 13th Five-Year Plan.
The second is about the target setting of the 14 th Five-Year Plan. We still adhere to the two indicators of PM2.5 and excellent days, of which PM2.5 is all prefecture-level cities and above in China, not only referring to cities that fail to meet the standards; The original two total indicators were sulfur dioxide and NOx, and now sulfur dioxide is replaced by VOCs. Therefore, it is four indicators of PM2.5, excellent days, NOx and VOCs, plus the days of basically eliminating heavy pollution, which is equivalent to five indicators.
During the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, we will work out an action plan to improve air quality in an all-round way, which is equivalent to the third-stage action plan for air pollution prevention and control. Regarding the target setting, in accordance with the general requirements of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to adhere to the general tone of steady progress and continuously improve the environmental quality, we initially consider that the average concentration of PM2.5 in cities at or above the prefecture level in China should be reduced by 10%, which is equivalent to that in cities that fail to meet the standards. The proportion of excellent days has increased from 87% to 87.5%, which is only 0.5 percentage point on the surface, but after deducting the impact of the epidemic, it is equivalent to an increase of 2.7 percentage points from 84.8% to 87.5%, and the two indicators are roughly equivalent to the requirements of the 13 th Five-Year Plan.
The third is this year’s goal. On the basis of the overall objective of the "14th Five-Year Plan", according to the annual schedule requirement of 20%, and considering the influence of factors such as capacity release after the COVID-19 epidemic in 2021, this year’s goal is put forward, that is, the national average concentration of PM2.5 will drop by 0.5 μ g/m3, reaching 34.5 μ g/m3; The ratio of excellent days increased by 0.4 percentage points to 85.2%. Literally, the air quality target in 2021 is backward compared with that in 2020, but after deducting the impact of the epidemic, the air quality still requires continuous improvement. Therefore, both the targets in the 14th Five-Year Plan and this year’s targets are relatively positive, and it is not easy to achieve the above goals, which requires a lot of hardships and efforts. Thank you.
National business daily:My question is that in recent years, the pollution of PM2.5 in China has gradually decreased, but the ozone concentration has shown an overall upward trend. Some voices think that the decline of PM2.5 has led to the increase of ozone. What do you think of this view? What is the situation of ozone pollution in China at this stage, and what measures will be taken in the next step to promote the coordinated control of PM2.5 and ozone? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. In recent years, while the PM2.5 in China dropped sharply, the O3 concentration did not improve synchronously, but showed an upward trend. In view of this situation, we organized relevant experts to comprehensively analyze the situation and causes of O3 pollution.
Judging from the current situation of O3 pollution in China, the overall concentration of O3 in China has been slowly rising in recent years. In 2020, the proportion of days when O3 concentration exceeded the standard was 4.9%, of which over 90% were light pollution. In recent years, the concentration of O3 in 337 cities at prefecture level and above has increased slightly every year. Among them, it was 137 μ g/m3 in 2017, 139 μ g/m3 in 2018 and 138 μ g/m3 in 2020, which remained basically stable; Only in 2019, because the southern region, mainly Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan and Hubei, experienced three consecutive months of drought, lack of rain and high temperature and heat waves, which led to the increase of the national O3 concentration by 9 micrograms. This is an extreme meteorological condition. After deducting it, overall, China’s O3 showed a slow rise. From the key areas, the concentration of O3 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas, Fenwei Plain and other key areas is significantly higher than that in developed countries and regions in Europe and America, and it is also 25%~49% higher than that in other areas in China. O3 has become an important factor affecting air quality, second only to PM2.5, which brings new challenges to the next stage of air pollution prevention and control.
The reasons for the gradual increase of O3 concentration in recent years are as follows: First, the emissions of NOx and VOCs, the main precursors of O3, remain high. In 2020, among the emissions of four major air pollutants that cause compound air pollution in China, the emissions of SO2 and primary PM2.5 have dropped to one million tons, while the emissions of NOx and VOCs are still ten million tons. These two pollutants with emission levels of 10 million tons are the precursors of O3 pollution, which remain high, especially in key areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and the surrounding areas and the Yangtze River Delta. The industries involved in VOCs emission are highly concentrated, with 11 provinces and cities accounting for 13% of the country’s land area, but the emissions account for 47% of the country’s total. The crude oil processing volume accounts for 49% of the country, and there are many enterprises in the industries such as raw materials, chemical pesticides, furniture, shipbuilding, etc., and the total output accounts for about 50% ~88% of the country respectively, so it is very difficult to adjust the industrial layout. Second, the meteorological conditions of high temperature and little rain are conducive to the formation of O3. From the statistical data, there are five warmest years in the seven years from 2013 to 2019. We tried our best to reduce NOx and VOCs to offset the formation of O3, but the temperature rise offset this part. Third, observations show that the global O3 background value is increasing. In recent decades, the global ozone has increased at a rate of nearly 1 μ g/m3 per year, and the ozone concentration in northern hemisphere countries such as Europe, the United States and Japan has also been increasing year by year in recent years.
In addition, some voices think that the increase of O3 concentration in China is caused by the excessive decline of PM2.5 concentration, which is also unscientific. Scientific research shows that the decrease of PM2.5 concentration usually leads to the increase of near-surface radiation, which is beneficial to the formation of O3 in summer, but the influence is small, which is not the main reason for the increase of O3 concentration. There is no causal relationship between the decrease of PM2.5 concentration and the inevitable increase of O3 concentration. In recent years, the root cause of O3 pollution in China is the excessive and concentrated emission of NOx and VOCs, which is the conclusion drawn by scientists.
In the next step, we must resolutely implement the decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, fight the tough battle of pollution prevention and control, continue to strengthen the prevention and control of PM2.5 pollution, accelerate the filling of the shortcomings of O3 pollution control, unswervingly promote the coordinated emission reduction of NOx and VOCs, promote the ultra-low emission transformation of the steel industry and the in-depth treatment of cement, coking, glass and other industries, strengthen the control of motor vehicle pollution, carry out comprehensive treatment and source substitution of VOCs in depth, and promote the common reduction of PM2.5 and O3 concentrations to achieve coordinated control.
Southern Metropolis Daily:The control of loose coal is a hard nut to crack in the adjustment of energy structure. How is the current control going? Some people still complain that clean heating can’t afford it. What does the Ministry of Ecology and Environment think? Will the scope of the pilot cities for clean heating be further expanded? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. Promoting winter clean heating in northern China is an important decision made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, an important measure of energy consumption revolution, and an important measure to solve smog. The treatment of loose coal can be said to be the most difficult bone in our work, which has been highly concerned by all walks of life. On the one hand, it has received rave reviews, on the other hand, the voices of debate and doubt have never stopped. Over the past few years, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Energy Bureau, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and other departments have worked together to establish an inter-ministerial joint meeting, adhere to the problem-oriented, adhere to the gas-based reform, meet the demand, and solidly promote the work of clean heating, and achieved positive results. By the end of 2020, 2+26 cities and Fenwei Plain have replaced about 25 million households with loose coal, which is equivalent to reducing 50-60 million tons of loose coal.
Taking Beijing as an example, the first generation of environmentalists pursued the goal of not burning coal in the capital, which was realized in our generation. Now we are very proud that we can hardly smell the smell of burning coal in Beijing and the channel cities. We are unswerving in the treatment of loose coal, and no matter how big the difficulties and contradictions are, we must complete them, because this is an important measure to solve air pollution and win-win economic, social and environmental benefits.
Some people say that the price is high, and there are problems that they may not be able to burn and may return to coal. This exists to a certain extent, but with the progress of work year by year, the problems have been solved fairly well. In this autumn and winter, returning coal is only an individual problem. From the point of view of replacing coal with electricity and gas, it is undeniable that if environmental and social benefits are not considered, the cost will indeed increase after the transformation. I emphasize it from two aspects.
The first aspect is that rural residents’ habit of using clean energy depends on cultivation. Throughout the history of air control in the world, countries and regions that have suffered from serious air pollution and even thousands of deaths have all taken technical measures to replace loose coal for urban and rural residents with natural gas and electricity. When we went to the local investigation, most people agreed with the substitution of clean energy, and the original rural residents burned coal for cooking and heating, and the indoor PM2.5 concentration was above 200 micrograms every day, which was equivalent to the degree of heavy pollution. Long-term exposure to this environment seriously affected human health. Therefore, the management of loose coal is to follow the people’s hearts and win public opinion, so that the masses can bid farewell to the smoky era.
The second is the issue of financial subsidies. Beginning in 2019, we have allocated some funds for air pollution projects to provide operating subsidies for coal to gas and coal to electricity. In a certain period of time, the central and local governments will also provide appropriate support for clean heating operations. We will also cooperate with the Ministry of Finance and other departments to further improve the long-term mechanism for the stable operation of clean heating, study and improve the subsidy policy for clean heating operation in rural areas, guide local governments to make more precise policies, and take more care of low-income households and needy households. At the same time of subsidy, coordinate with relevant departments to further study and improve the preferential policies for heating gas price and electricity price, etc., and can’t go up after subsidizing the price, so that rural residents at the terminal can afford it and use it well.
Next, we will continue to push forward. The management of loose coal in rural areas should be expanded outward, first of all, in key areas, such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and all the way to Shanghai, and all the areas in the middle should be opened up to clean up loose coal, which will be clearly required in the 14 th Five-Year Plan. We are also cooperating with the Ministry of Finance to study and expand the scope of clean heating pilot cities. We are also very happy to see that the No.1 document issued by the Central Committee this year also explicitly proposes to implement rural clean energy construction projects, increase rural power grid construction, and promote gas to the countryside. Promoting these basic tasks will be more conducive to promoting the clean replacement of loose coal in rural areas, and the conditions are much better than when we first started this work. Thank you.
People’s Network:My question is that the General Secretary of the Supreme Leader clearly pointed out at the Central Economic Work Conference that it is necessary to continue to fight the tough battle of pollution prevention and control and realize the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. What has the Ministry of Ecology and Environment done and how to promote the coordinated governance of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the next step?
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. China’s energy structure is dominated by high-carbon fossil energy, accounting for about 85%. Fossil energy has a high consumption ratio and huge volume, which is one of the main causes of air pollution and of course the main source of greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions related to energy activities and air pollutant emissions have the characteristics of the same root, homology and process, and measures to reduce air pollutant emissions are also measures to reduce CO2 emissions. Pollution reduction and carbon reduction have the same frequency resonance and the same direction in promoting structural energy saving, curbing the expansion of two high-tech industries and boosting the development of non-fossil energy.
Let me give you a few examples. In the energy field, we have replaced 620,000 coal-fired boilers nationwide in 2013 with cogeneration, electricity and natural gas, and now there are only less than 100,000 sets left, and 25 million households have completed the replacement of loose coal in key areas. These measures are actually all about the process of coal. In the industrial field, together with the competent authorities, we will intensify the efforts to eliminate backwardness and resolve excess production capacity in key industries, eliminate and resolve excess steel production capacity of more than 200 million tons and completely eliminate 140 million tons of strip steel, and crack down on scattered and polluting enterprises nationwide. In the field of transportation, we have actively promoted the revolution of railways. Since the transportation structure adjustment policy was put forward, the national railway freight volume has increased for three consecutive years, completely reversing the downward trend of railway freight volume since the 1980s. During the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, 14 million motor vehicles were eliminated. From 2018 to 2020, more than 900,000 heavy-duty trucks in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas and Fenwei Plain were eliminated ahead of schedule, and nearly 110,000 ships banned from fishing in the Yangtze River were eliminated. New energy vehicles have grown substantially, with electric buses accounting for 20% in 2015 and now reaching 60%.
Everyone can see these achievements, and I won’t list them one by one. We have made a preliminary calculation. These hard measures of structural adjustment have reduced coal consumption by more than 500 million tons, reduced sulfur dioxide emissions by more than 11 million tons and NOx emissions by more than 5 million tons, and cooperatively reduced carbon dioxide emissions by more than 1 billion tons. This is what I call co-frequency resonance and co-force.
During the "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" period, we focused on the "synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction" and took carbon reduction as the "bull’s nose" of source control, guiding all localities to coordinate air pollution prevention and greenhouse gas emission reduction.
First, strengthen the top-level design. At present, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment is taking the lead in formulating the action plan for peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030, and formulating a series of special plans such as the action plan for comprehensively improving air quality in the 14th Five-Year Plan. We also connect energy planning and transportation planning with relevant ministries and commissions. In all the plans of the 14th Five-Year Plan, the overall idea of reducing pollution and carbon is reflected, with emphasis on source control and system control.
The second is to strictly control the increment. Peak carbon dioxide emissions is not climbing the peak. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan period and even for a long time, if the growth of fossil energy, especially coal, is not curbed, it is conceivable that it will exert great pressure on peak carbon dioxide emissions and improve air quality. We must resolutely curb the blind development of projects with high energy consumption and high emissions, strictly implement the requirements for capacity replacement, and strictly control the new amount.
The third is to strengthen stock management. I have just given you a few examples, and we must continue to push forward the effective ones. For another example, in the 13th Five-Year Plan, about 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas was added, and the key to the success was to mainly replace coal. Therefore, in the 14th Five-Year Plan, we should adhere to the synchronization of increasing gas and reducing coal. If all natural gas is used for power generation, it will only bring new amounts of NOx and carbon dioxide, and only by replacing coal can we reduce pollution and carbon. The other direction is to promote electricity to replace coal. In the future, the new electricity will mainly be generated by clean energy, so electricity to replace coal is also synchronized with pollution reduction and carbon reduction. In the field of transportation, it is necessary to continuously optimize the transportation structure and improve the level of rail, electrification and cleanliness. Thank you.
Reuters:Recently, it was reported that Xie Zhenhua, the special adviser on climate change affairs of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, was appointed as the special envoy for climate change affairs in China, and an office for climate change affairs will be established. Is this news true? If the news is true, what role will Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua play? What is the responsibility of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment? What does it mean for China to fulfill its commitment to climate change?
Liu Youbin:Thank you for your question. With the approval of the Central Committee, Comrade Xie Zhenhua served as the special envoy for climate change affairs in China. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment is responsible for the specific performance of duties.
Special Envoy Xie Zhenhua has been engaged in the field of climate change for a long time. He once served as the special representative of the China government and the climate change consultant of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and presided over the negotiation of China’s accession to the Paris Agreement. This appointment shows that China attaches great importance to tackling climate change, and is committed to strengthening exchanges with all parties in the world, working together to meet the challenges of climate change, and jointly building a win-win, fair and reasonable climate governance system.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has set up a climate change affairs office, with the Deputy Minister of Ecology and Environment as the director of the office to provide support for the special envoy to perform his duties. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments also provided great support.
Beijing News:Large-scale heavy pollution occurred during the Spring Festival. I would like to ask what the specific reasons are and what measures have been taken. Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. There were three days of heavy pollution during the Spring Festival in Beijing, and there was a similar situation in the last Spring Festival, and the problem was very clear. The first is that a large number of steel, glass, coke, refractories, petrochemicals, electric power and other enterprises that can’t stop their production, especially heating, and their emissions are very high. Moreover, compared with last year, the output of products this year, whether it is power generation or steel production or other products with high energy consumption and high emissions, has increased by double digits compared with last year, and the basic emissions are still here.
The second is extreme weather conditions. Why did this happen? Compared with last year, the results of this year’s resumption show that the meteorological conditions this year are indeed worse than last year. Generally, where there is static stability, low pressure convergence, high humidity and inversion, there will be serious pollution. This time, this situation has appeared in Beijing and several surrounding cities, similar to last year. Even worse this year is the humidity, which is almost saturated, especially before it snows.
There is a bigger difference between this year and last year. This year is the Spring Festival on the spot. In fact, there are still a lot of businesses, transportation and various restaurants this year, unlike last year’s epidemic. In response to the three days of heavy pollution, we have launched the emergency response to heavy pollution ahead of schedule, Beijing has launched the yellow warning, and the remaining 74 cities have jointly launched the orange warning. The heavy pollution in Hebei, Henan and Shandong has a good effect, but under the adverse meteorological conditions, pollutants have accumulated in Beijing and its surrounding areas, so there have been three days of heavy pollution.
The cause of heavy pollution is clear, the process can be predicted, and the countermeasures taken now seem to be to cure the problem. Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its surrounding areas have laid out a large number of high-tech enterprises, and the regional pollution degree is heavy, and pollutants are transmitted and influenced each other. The resumption shows that the pollutants in Beijing New Year’s Eve mainly come from the south, and on the afternoon of the New Year’s Day, they are interrupted by the northerly airflow. Everyone can feel that the air quality is slightly better, but the pollution is aggravated at night, and the pollutants are mainly transmitted from the east. After the resumption, we are very clear about these situations.
Because an important task of the "14 th Five-Year Plan" is to basically eliminate heavily polluted weather. The repeated occurrence of heavy pollution has given us a great warning, and it is still necessary to increase the adjustment of energy structure, industrial structure and transportation structure, carry out ultra-low emission transformation for enterprises in high-emission industries and strengthen supervision. In key areas such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, we should still focus on exerting strength. Thank you.
Public network:Let me ask you a question. The 14th Five-Year Plan proposes to basically eliminate heavily polluted weather. How will the Ministry of Ecology and Environment achieve this goal? What are the key points and difficulties? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. Heavy polluted weather is one of the atmospheric problems that people are most concerned about at present. the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Proposal on Formulating the 14th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Target for the Year 2035, which was adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee, puts forward that heavy polluted weather should be basically eliminated, which puts great pressure on us. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, we achieved certain results. The proportion of days with severe and above pollution in China has dropped from 2.8% in 2015 to 1.2% in 2020, and the improvement in key areas has been more obvious, from 5.0% to 1.9%. Beijing has dropped from 58 days in 2015 to only a few days in a year, and the results are still quite obvious. Moreover, the characteristics of the current heavily polluted weather process have changed obviously, the duration is relatively short, the concentration value is different from the original off the charts, the peak value is greatly reduced, and the range is relatively concentrated, and the severely polluted weather is basically eliminated.
How to accomplish the arduous task of "the 14th Five-Year Plan", we analyzed the composition of heavily polluted weather in the whole country. There is basically no heavily polluted weather in the south of the Yangtze River, and there are some cities between the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. The main frequent areas are Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Fenwei, Northeast and Northwest, mainly in these four places, and they are local. The causes of heavy pollution in different regions are different. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Fenwei plains are mainly caused by more coal burning, industrial agglomeration and more cars, and the three major structural problems are more prominent. The focus in Northeast China is burning straw. Now in March, it is almost the season of burning straw. The amount of straw in Northeast China is relatively large, and the window period of burning straw is short, which often overlaps with unfavorable meteorological conditions and is prone to heavy pollution. The opinions of the people are also relatively large. We are doing this work. At the same time, the treatment of loose coal in Northeast China is still on the road. Northwest China is the problem of unreasonable industrial layout in some cities, as well as the influence of sandstorms.
Combined with the above analysis, there are mainly three aspects of work. The first is to scientifically formulate the index of the decline of the number of days of heavy pollution in various places during the 14 th Five-Year Plan and strictly assess it. According to the causes of heavy pollution in different places, different goals are issued to reduce the heavy polluted weather caused by human factors. We will exclude factors such as sandstorms and forest fires.
The second is to treat both the symptoms and the root causes, and strengthen the measures to cure the problem. The control of heavily polluted weather in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and surrounding areas has been fruitful. You can see that many radical measures have been effective after implementation, mainly due to the adjustment of industry, energy and transportation structure. In order to improve the comprehensive utilization rate of straw in the northeast region and strengthen the adjustment of industrial layout in the northwest region, the difficulty lies in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Fenwei plains, and we will continue to arrange the effective measures in the 13 th Five-Year Plan.
The third is to scientifically carry out emergency response to heavy polluted weather and actively treat the symptoms. Heavy pollution emergency has formed a set of fixed play, which is more effective. The 275,000 gas-related enterprises in key areas all adhere to industry performance grading and classified policies, and each enterprise has clearly defined the differentiated emergency emission reduction measures that need to be taken in case of heavy pollution emergency. After we predict that there will be heavy polluted weather, the local government will issue an early warning to the society, and the emission reduction measures will be put in place, and the duration or peak concentration of pollution will improve. To some extent, people will think that pollution is not as serious as imagined, but it is actually an effective result of emergency emission reduction.
At the same time, during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the Northeast and Northwest China will be instructed to improve the emergency emission reduction list of heavy pollution, and all gas-related enterprises will be included. Efforts will be made to guide local governments to do a good job in dealing with heavy pollution, and the level of forecasting will also be improved. We will work together to eliminate the man-made heavy pollution weather as much as possible. Thank you.
Cover news:The burning of straw in northeast China in spring has caused heavy pollution many times. What countermeasures does the Ministry of Ecology and Environment have for this problem this year? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. As you said, straw burning is really prominent in Northeast China, which seriously affects regional air quality. In 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, a large number of straws were burned in the open air in the spring of Northeast China, and heavy pollution occurred in many cities. The central environmental protection inspector conducted an investigation on this and held many people accountable. The local government also took many measures to hold many people accountable and invested a lot of money to promote the solution of this problem. However, the northeast has a vast land and a large amount of straw, and its comprehensive utilization rate is significantly lower than the national average. Moreover, the winter in Northeast China is very cold, and the time window for returning straw to the field is short. The most important thing is the long-term farming habits. It is indeed difficult to completely ban the burning of straw. However, if the control measures are implemented well, the effect will be obvious, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei straw burning ban will be better.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China’s Proposal on Formulating the 14th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Target for the Year 2035, which was deliberated and adopted by the Fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee, clearly requires that heavy pollution days should be basically eliminated during the 14th Five-year Plan period. In another period of time, when the Northeast is in the period of land preparation and ploughing, the phenomenon of straw burning may happen at any time. I also hope to send a clear message through today’s news friends, that we should deploy early, publicize early and act early, strictly control the phenomenon of straw burning in the open air, and never allow centralized burning of straw in calm weather.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment will, jointly with relevant departments, first, use satellite monitoring and other scientific and technological means to monitor the burning of straw in various places, especially in Northeast China, and issue early warning information in time; Second, timely send professional teams to Northeast China to carry out straw burning ban supervision, and organize local meteorological, agricultural, environmental protection and other departments to hold consultations, strengthen the control of burning ban under unfavorable diffusion conditions, and standardize organized burning under favorable diffusion conditions; The third is to increase support and greatly improve the comprehensive utilization rate of straw. Now there have been very successful cases, and some enterprises have done relatively successfully. Therefore, it is necessary to promote some successful models and improve the utilization rate as much as possible to fundamentally solve the problem of heavy pollution caused by straw burning. Thank you.
The Paper:We have noticed that the only EIA engineer of an EIA company in Shandong was responsible for compiling 63 EIA reports and 1,541 EIA report forms in four months. Some critics think that this kind of EIA has become formalism, and this kind of behavior of the EIA has also become a "signature machine". How does the Ministry of Ecology and Environment evaluate this matter?
Liu Youbin:The Ministry of Ecology and Environment resolutely opposes formalism in EIA work. We have noticed the above situation, and compared with the data of the national EIA approval system, most of the EIA documents reported by this unit have not been submitted for approval. For the EIA documents that have been compiled and submitted for approval, our department will review all the reports according to the proportion of 100%. If the quality problems of EIA are found, they will be dealt with seriously according to the law.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment attaches great importance to the quality of EIA documents and resolutely cracks down on fraudulent and shoddy EIA documents. Since 2020, the Ministry has institutionalized the monitoring of the national EIA business volume. A total of 733 units and 671 people were scored for dishonesty nationwide; 31 units and 17 people were included in the list of rectification within a time limit and the "blacklist", and disciplinary actions were imposed to restrict and prohibit employment.
In the next step, our department will continue to strictly implement the requirements of the EIA Law, encourage social supervision, investigate serious responsibilities, and resolutely safeguard the EIA market order.
China Youth Daily:I noticed that from 2015 to 2020, the number of cars increased from 163 million to 281 million, an increase of more than 100 million, but the concentration of cities where PM2.5 did not meet the standard also decreased. Does this mean that motor vehicle emissions are not the main source of air pollution?
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. To answer the question whether the decline of PM2.5 concentration has anything to do with cars, we must first discuss how the concentration of PM2.5 decreased. In the 13th Five-Year Plan, the concentration of PM2.5 decreased by 28.8%. What is the main contribution? According to the expert evaluation results, it is mainly due to the remarkable effect of "coal control". 25 million households in key areas have been treated with loose coal, and the transformation of coal-fired power plants with ultra-low emission and ultra-low emission of steel has been rapidly promoted. The number of boilers has dropped to less than 100,000, and the emission of sulfur dioxide has dropped from the highest value of 25.88 million tons to less than 7 million tons. The problem of acid rain has been basically solved, the concentration of sulfur dioxide has reached the national standard in an all-round way, and sulfur dioxide has withdrawn from the binding indicators during the 14 th Five-Year Plan period. Compared with SO2 emission, the control of NOx and VOCs caused by fuel has achieved certain results, but it is far less powerful and effective than SO2 control.
According to the latest data released at the end of 2020, the number of motor vehicles in China is 372 million, including 281 million, and the number of vehicles has increased by more than 20 million every year, and more than 100 million vehicles have been added in the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan. We have done a lot of work to prevent and control motor vehicle pollution. First, in the 13th Five-Year Plan period, 14 million old cars were eliminated nationwide, and more than 900,000 heavy-duty diesel trucks operated in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, surrounding areas and Fenwei Plain were eliminated in advance from 2018 to 2020. Second, we will continue to upgrade the emission standards for new cars, fully implement the National Six standards for light vehicles, increase the number of vehicles in National Five and National Six from 2% in 2015 to 45%, and significantly reduce bicycle emissions. Third, the quality of automobile gasoline and diesel oil has improved rapidly. The vehicle oil standard has jumped three times from the national standard 4 to the national standard 6, and vehicle diesel, ordinary diesel and part of marine fuel oil are combined. The sulfur content of gasoline and diesel, the most important environmental protection index, reaches 10ppm, which is in line with the level of developed countries in Europe and America. In addition, the number of new energy vehicles has increased rapidly, and there are more and more new energy vehicles in public areas such as buses, taxis, garbage sweepers, postal vehicles and light logistics vehicles. Recently, we found that NOx concentration began to show a good trend. During the first four years of the 13th Five-Year Plan, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide did not drop very much. Last year, the concentration of nitrogen dioxide dropped for the first time, which is a very good trend.
Back to your question, is there any relationship between PM2.5 pollution and automobile emissions? The answer is yes. We have carried out a lot of scientific monitoring and analysis on heavy pollution. During the occurrence of heavy pollution-the air quality is from excellent to good, mild, moderate to severe, and continuously severe, the main component that raises the concentration of PM2.5 is nitrate, that is, NOx is converted into nitrate. Especially in Beijing, sulfate is basically immobile, mainly driven by nitrate. Now it seems that NOx has become the focus of emission reduction, that is to say, because the previous coal-burning control has been effective, the current automobile emission problem is more prominent. Automobile pollution reduction will be the focus of the 14 th Five-Year Plan, thank you.
Singapore Lianhe Zaobao:My question is about the prevention and control of air pollution in the Winter Olympics. There were three days of heavy pollution in Beijing during the Spring Festival this year. Next year is the Winter Olympics, that is, during the Lunar New Year, which is less than one year away from the Winter Olympics. What measures will the Ministry of Ecology and Environment take to ensure the air quality during the Winter Olympics? Thank you.
Liu Bingjiang:Thank you for your question. Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou from February 4 to 20 and from March 4 to 13, 2022. The duration of the Winter Olympics is very long, and it coincides with the winter heating period in China. The meteorological conditions are relatively unfavorable, heavy pollution days occur frequently, and the air quality situation is severe. Therefore, there is great pressure to realize the commitment of the China Municipal Government to the Winter Olympics. At present, it seems that the air quality situation in Chongli Competition Area is good. Generally, there will be a few days of mild pollution in Zhangjiakou, and there will be days exceeding the standard or even heavily polluted weather in Beijing every year.
We organized scientific research institutions and experts to review each heavy pollution process in this season in the past few years, and analyzed the transmission path and influence scope of pollution in detail. At present, ensuring the environmental air quality of the Winter Olympics cannot be solved by Beijing alone, but must rely on regional joint prevention and control. At present, the biggest transmission impact is "2+26" cities, in addition to the transmission impact of Liaoning urban agglomeration, Qinhuangdao and Tangshan; The transmission influences of Datong and Shuozhou in Shanxi, and Hohhot, Baotou, Ordos and Wulanchabu in Inner Mongolia have great influence on Zhangjiakou.
We will learn from the successful experience in the past and focus on the following tasks: First, accelerate the tasks of air pollution control. Guide all localities to accelerate the adjustment of industry, energy, transportation structure and the deep treatment of enterprise pollution, promote the implementation of control measures in an orderly manner, and prevent all forms from being across the board. The second is to strengthen monitoring, early warning and judgment. The characteristics and transmission law of air pollution in the competition area in recent years are studied and analyzed. Make medium-and long-term prediction and judgment on the atmospheric situation in the competition area during the Winter Olympics and Paralympic Games next year, and do a good job in monitoring and early warning and dynamic update. The third is to strengthen regional joint defense and joint control. We will promote the cooperation in air pollution prevention and control in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei and surrounding areas, do a good job in dealing with heavy polluted weather, and implement performance grading and differentiated control over emergency emission reduction in key industries. The fourth is to strengthen environmental law enforcement supervision. Strengthen the supervision of enterprises in key industries and pollution sources, intensify investigation and punishment, and severely crack down on environmental violations such as illegal discharge, excessive discharge and so on.
China’s foreign commitments have always been firmly fulfilled. We will make every effort to ensure the air quality of the Winter Olympics and honor our commitments. Thank you.
Beijing Youth Daily:Recently, residents of Fugou County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province were retaliated by polluting enterprises for anonymously reporting environmental problems, and it was found that insiders leaked the personal information of the whistleblower. What is the comment of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment?
Liu Youbin:After the incident, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment attached great importance to it and immediately instructed the Henan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment to investigate and verify it and deal with it seriously according to the law.
In order to give full play to the warning and education function of this case, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment has made a circular in the national ecological environment system, requiring ecological environment departments at all levels to improve their political stance, strictly abide by the requirements and procedures for case investigation, and take handling complaints and reporting cases as an important measure to improve the credibility of the government. We will adhere to "zero tolerance" for violations of discipline and discipline, and we will never excuse our shortcomings and will never tolerate them.
Liu Youbin:Dear friends, tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, the traditional festival of China people. I wish you all a happy holiday and a happy and healthy family in advance! Today’s press conference is over, thank you.
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