On April 24th, the forum “Imagine Delhi: towards a clearsky” was held in Delhi. Mr. Tonny Xie, director of Bluetech Clean Air Alliance(BCAA), was invited to speak at the forum and share China’s experience of fighting against air pollution. This event is the first forum of the annual high-level conversation series of “Imagine 2060: Delivering tomorrow’s cities together” programme that launched by AECOM and Asia Society. Mr. Goh Chok Tong, Emeritus Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore, Mr. Sean Chiao, President of Asia Pacific, AECOM and Ms. Bunty Chand, Chief Executive Officer of Asia Society India Centre attended the forum, among a diverse line-up of leading international and national leaders in business, research, policy andmedia.
Delhi is one of the principal cities in India and has just been categorized as a "mega hub" among other Emerging World Cities by the "Universe of City Indices 2018". With fast economic development, Delhi is also facing formidable challenges, air pollution being the grimmest one. The forum, under the theme of “Towards a Clear Sky”, aims to raise apositive, forward-looking conversation about the holistic strategies and choices that can achieve the clear sky and clean air necessary for sustained economic, social and environmental health. Experts and leaders from the fields of renewable energy, urban planning, transport and public policy shared their opinions about air pollution in Delhi and India during the event, exploring sustainable development patterns that coordinates economic growth and environmental for Delhi and other rapidly developing large cities.
"Whether Singapore or Delhi, we all share the same sky andthat's why enriching conversations like those held today are so important.Delhi's future rests upon achieving the right balance between growth and sustainability. Singapore and India are old friends, and I'm certain Singapore will be willing to play a meaningful role in building the sustainable policies, practices and initiatives to help India achieve its objective of clear skies in the years ahead," said Emeritus Senior Minister of the Republic of Singapore Goh Chok Tong, who delivered the first of two keynote addresses.
Over the past five years, China has made breakthrough progress in the field of air pollution prevention and control, improving air quality significantlywhile accumulating many precious experience. Mr. Tonny Xie brought China’s air pollution control experience to India and shared with the participating guests.
Mr. Tonny Xie believes that based on China’s experience, air quality can be improved by a large margin in a relatively short period of time. He addressed“over the past five years, PM10 concentrations have decreased about23% in 338 major Chinese cities, the level of PM2.5 in Jing-Jin-Ji region has dropped 40% and in Beijing 35%.”
China’s air pollution control path shows that air quality improvement can totally align with the economic development. Mr. Tonny Xie mentioned in the forum that, based on a previous estimation, a total of 1.8 trillion RMB investment would be needed to meet the national goal of 2017 air quality improvement, but the improvement could also increase the national GDP by over 2 trillion RMB. “By 2030, China's key areas of clean air will usher in more than 20 trillion RMB (around 3.2 trillion US Dollar) market opportunities, and China will continue to be the world's largest demand market for clean airtechnology”, said Mr. Xie.
Mr. Xie also expressed that China's clean air efforts would continue to push for clean revolutions on energy, industry and transport, which would directly promote low-carbon development, significantly support greenhouse gas emissionreduction and accelerate the realization of China's commitment to the Paris Agreement, offering a good example for India.
"Imagine 2060: Delivering Tomorrow's Cities Together" is a three years global conversation series that launched by AECOM and Asia society. Since 2017, this original series aims to inspire a new way of delivering tomorrow's cities and the series is dedicated to a key Earth element each year. The 2018 conversation in the Imagine 2060 series is under the theme of "Towards a Clear Sky." Three cities in Asia Pacific Region, such as Delhi, Melbourne and Hong Kong, will hold the event, the forum is the first forum of 2018 annual conversation series.
Mr. Chiao, President of Asia Pacific, AECOM, said, "Our 2018theme, Towards a Clear Sky, does not just look at the policies that can be put in place to restore the harmony between city development and air quality. Weare gathering together leaders in renewable energy, urban planning, transportation and public policy to imagine a sustainable future holistically for these iconic cities and join forces to achieve this collaboratively. It is critical that we stretch our imagination far beyond now, to anticipate and deliver the built environment that will enable us to survive, and thrive, in the future."
"We're delighted Delhi was chosen for the launch of the secondyear of the Asia Society - AECOM partnership. India has made significant strides in the fight against challenges such as air pollution because policymakers, industry, civil society and citizens are coming together to tackle this challenge. The choices we make today will have significant impact upon generations to come. Let's make sure those choices have a lasting, positive and sustainable impact! Asia Society India Centre is committed to facilitating positive change through its programming. We're going to furtherthis conversation beyond today and hopefully, towards those solutions we all seek," concluded by Ms. Chand.
