Abbie WestfallThe average Chinese citizen can expect to live two years longer thanks to the country’s push for cleaner skies, according to the University of Chicago.
China has reduced air pollution by 41 percent in the decade through 2022 due to the success of stricter public policies, the university’s Energy Policy Institute said in a report on Wednesday.
The government’s National Air Quality Action Plan was launched after harmful smog peaked in 2013, targeting fewer cars on the road, cuts to steel capacity and bans on coal-fired power plants in major urban areas.
Other measures included encouraging the adoption of renewables and the switch from coal to cleaner-burning natural gas.
China accounts for 20 percent of global health problems associated with air quality, and pollution levels in the country are still 5,6 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s guideline, according to the report. Only tobacco use is a bigger threat to life expectancy, and meeting the WHO’s pollution target would add another 2,3 years to the nation’s average life span.
The government’s latest goal, introduced in November 2023, is to cut smog by 10 percent in major cities from 2020 levels by the end of next year.
Air pollution around the world is highly unequal, according to the report, which found that people in the worst affected areas breathe air that is six times more polluted than those in the least affected. As a result, their life expectancy falls by an average of 2,7 years compared to those living in the cleanest places. — Bloomberg
Bongani Ndlovu