In recent years, air pollution problem in India has become increasingly prominent and has become one of the most concerned issues for the people. According to the latest database released by the World Health Organization, in 2016, world’s top 10 cities of average annual PM2.5 concentration were all located in India, while the annual average concentration of PM10 in Delhi was the highest in the world. In the past few years, China has also experienced very serious air pollution. In September 2013, China issued the “Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan”, since then China has kicked off the air quality improvement with unprecedented strength. China's overall air quality has improved significantly, which has demonstrated the whole world with the Chinese model to effectively improvement in air quality in the short term.
From April 13 to April 18, 2019, invited by the China India Foundation and ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, the Director of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance (BCAA), Hongxing Xie, shared China's air pollution control experience with Mr. Shri S. P. Singh Parihar, Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) of India, Mr. Ritesh Kumar Singh, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change of India, Mr. Imran Hussain, Delhi Minister, Professor Mukesh Khare, Professor of the Indian Institute of Technology, and Mr. Navroz Dubash, Coordinator of Initiative on Climate, Energy, & Environment of India, etc. The representatives held separate talks, in-depth exchanges on China's air pollution control process over the past few years and shared the successful experience gained. Representatives from all walks of life in India highly recognized China's achievements in the field of air pollution prevention and control, and showed great interest in learning, communicating and cooperating with China. During the talks, China's experience in regional air pollution joint prevention and control, air pollution prevention action plan formulation, staffing and training, innovative clean air technology demonstration and application, and air quality monitoring network construction received a lot of attention.
During the talks, Director Xie emphasized that the China’s case shows that air quality can be greatly improved in a short term. Through several years of hard work, China has accumulated a lot of valuable experiences on air pollution control, and applied many innovative environmental technologies, which could also be employed to support India for its blue sky defense battle. In addition, China's air pollution control can also bring huge greenhouse gas emission reduction effects. Since 2013, China's total carbon emission growth rate has been nearly zero, and the commitment to reduce the carbon intensity per unit GDP by 40%-45% in 2020 has been achieved ahead of schedule, which India can also take for reference.
In addition, during the trip in India, Director Xie was also invited to participate in The Fourth Asia Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation and shared the progress of China's air pollution prevention and coordinated response to climate change. Mr. Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India, attended the conference, delivered an opening speech and took a group photo with the important guests.
In supporting India's blue sky project, BCAA and the Climate Trends India Office are collaborating to produce a research report "Opportunity for India: Toward Cleaner Sky——Hints from China." Based on the current air quality status in India and the experience of air pollution control in China over the past few years, the report presents India's upcoming development opportunities on the road to clean air, such as economic development driven by air quality improvement and environmental management systems. Reshaping and optimizing industrial and energy structure, co-control on greenhouse gas and air pollution, the report is hoping to create confidence to India's blue sky works. The report is scheduled to be released in June 2019.
