Difference between revisions of "Timeline of pollution in China"

! Year !! Month and date !! Event type !! Details

| 1972 || || || After the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the Chinese Government begins to develop environmental institutions.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis">{{cite web |title=China’s Environmental Crisis |url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-environmental-crisis |website=cfr.org |accessdate=13 May 2019}}</ref>

| 1978 || || || The Third Chinese Constitution is issued with inclusion of an environmental commission.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects"/>

| 1979 || || || The Chinese Government issues an Environmental Protection Law on a trial basis.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects"/>

| 1981 - 2000 || || || Research shows that air pollution was 55% higher in the northern region of China during the period.<ref name="Business created China's pollution problem"/>

| 1982 || || || The Chinese legislature enacts the Marine Environmental Protection Law.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 1984 || || || The Chinese legislature enacts the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 1984 || || || The Chinese legislature establishes the Forest Law as measure of nature conservation.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 1985 || || || The Chinese legislature establishes the Grasslands Law as measure of nature conservation.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 1987 || || || The Chinese legislature enacts the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 1989 || || || The Chinese Government formally issues an Environmental Protection Law.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects"/>

| 1990 - 2015 || || || According to Global Burden of Disease Study, estimated China’s annual premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 and O3 average values of around 1 to 1.2 million deaths in the period.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects"/>

| 1996 || || || The Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law is amended.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 2000 || || || The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Law is amended.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 2002 || || || A new Environmental Impact Assessment Law in amended.<ref name="Regulating Land and Pollution in China: Lawmaking, Compliance, and Enforcement : Theory and Cases"/>

| 2003 || || || The Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning determines that air pollution is responsible for 411,000 premature deaths across China.<ref name="Business created China's pollution problem"/>

| 2006 - 2010 || || || China starts to seriously control air pollution by limiting emissions for each province.<ref name="How China is cleaning up its air pollution faster than the post-Industrial UK"/>  

| 2007 || || || China ranks the world’s largest emitter of {{w|greenhouse gas}}es, overtaking the United States, and being responsible for 27 percent of global emissions in the year.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2007 || || || The year is known as China’s “first year of climate change communication research.”<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Ji |last2=Dan |first2=Luo |title=Climate Change Communication in China |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.467 |url=https://oxfordre.com/climatescience/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.001.0001/acrefore-9780190228620-e-467}}</ref>

| 2008 || || || Study suggests that reductions in air pollution only happens after the Chinese government creates the Ministry of Environmental Protection. After its creation, among the many changes in environmental policy, the MEP starts to gather reliable SO2 emissions data from continuous emissions monitoring systems (CEMS) at the prefecture level and increases the number of enforcement officials by 17 percent. Further study suggests that reductions in air pollution in China only happens after the creation of the MEP.<ref name="How China is cleaning up its air pollution faster than the post-Industrial UK"/>

| 2010 || || || The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection estimates the cost of pollution at around 1.5 trillion [[w:Renminbi|RMB]] (US$227 billion), or roughly 3.5 percent of the {{w|GDP}}.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2010 || || || Chinese census data calculates that nearly half of households primarily use solid fuels for cooking, and four out of five of these households are in rural areas.<ref name="air pollution in china"/>

| 2010 || || || The ambient air pollution in China is estimated by the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) to lead to 1.2 million premature deaths from one year’s (2010) exposure in the country.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects">{{cite journal |last1=Jin |first1=Yana |last2=Andersson |first2=Henrik |last3=Zhang |first3=Shiqiu |title=Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects |doi=10.3390/ijerph13121219 |pmid=27941665 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5201360/ |pmc=5201360}}</ref>

| 2012 - 2014 || || || The [[w:National Energy Commission|National Energy Agency]] claims that {{w|coal}} use dropped to 64.2 percent of the mix in 2014, down almost two percent from 2012.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2013 || January - February || || Severe haze covers many provinces and cities in China. The haze with its unprecedentedly high index of PM2.5 concentration and extremely low visibility provoques worldwide concern and eventually becomes known as the “PM2.5 crisis”.<ref name="Air Pollution Control Policies in China: A Retrospective and Prospects"/>

| 2013 || || || The Chinese Government claims declaring war on pollution. Among the efforts to curb {{w|smog}}, these include closing down or moving heavily polluting factories and restrictions on the use of cars.<ref>{{cite web |title=Beijing meets national air pollutant standard for first time |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2132406/beijing-meets-national-air-pollutant-standard-first-time |website=scmp.com |accessdate=13 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2013 || || || Chinese politician {{w|Chen Jiping}}, the former leading member of the party’s Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs, states that environmental issues are a major reason for “mass incidents” in the country, estimating unofficial gatherings of one hundred or more that range from peaceful protest to rioting.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2013 || || || Thousands of dead pigs in the {{w|Huangpu river}} are found. the news is spread rapidly online.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2013 < || || || "The market for devices that help keep indoor air clean by filtrating outdoor air before it enters the dwelling has sky rocketed since 2013 along with increasing use of face masks – now even available in fashionable patterns – meant to protect people from breathing polluted air"<ref name="air pollution in china">{{cite web |title=Introduction: Air Pollution in China |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/china-quarterly/article/introduction-air-pollution-in-china/8D36F205FEC68513BC45E2DEC0F2AC26/core-reader |website=cambridge.org |accessdate=13 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2013 || December || || The China’s National Development and Reform Commission issues its first nationwide blueprint for {{w|climate change}}, outlining an extensive list of objectives for 2020.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || January || || "Since January 2014, the central government has required fifteen thousand factories, including large state-owned enterprises, to publicly report real-time figures on air emissions and water discharges. "<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || || || "China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, having overtaken the United States in 2007, and was responsible for 27 percent of global emissions in 2014."<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || March || || ": Chinese Premier Li Keqiang declared a “war on pollution” in March 2014; "<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || May || || "in May of the same year the government strengthened the country’s Environmental Protection Law for the first time in twenty-five years. "<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || || || A record 17 million new cars on the road are calculated in the year, further contributing to China’s high emissions.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || November || || " In a November 2014 joint statement on climate change with the United States, China committed to hit its peak carbon emissions by 2030 and to have renewables account for 20 percent of its energy mix by 2030. "<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || || {{w|Water pollution}} || Groundwater supplies in more than 60 percent of major cities are categorized as “bad to very bad,” and more than a quarter of China’s key rivers are considered “unfit for human contact.”<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || || || China stands as one of the biggest investors in renewables, investing nearly US$90 billion in the year as part of its pledge to cut its carbon intensity, an amount far outspending the United States’ US$51.8 billion.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2014 || || || Approximately 4 billion tons of coal are consumed in the country in the year, more than the rest of the world combined.<ref name="Helping China Fight Air Pollution">{{cite web |title=Helping China Fight Air Pollution |url=https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2018/06/11/helping-china-fight-air-pollution |website=worldbank.org |accessdate=14 May 2019}}</ref>   

| 2015 || || || The national coal power plant capacity increases by 55 percent in the first six months, 155 new coal-fired plants are approved, and the Chinese Government admits that it has underreported its annual coal consumption since 2000.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2015 || March || || Under the Dome, a documentary on China’s air pollution, goes viral, attracting hundreds of thousands of views before internet censors blocked access.<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/>

| 2015 || || || Estimates calculate about 1.5 million premature deaths in {{w|China}} attributable to PM2.5 exposure in the year, of which about 60 per cent were due to ambient PM2.5 pollution and about 40 per cent to household air pollution.<ref name="air pollution in china"/>

| 2015 || || || "The rate of deaths attributable to air pollution in total in 2015 (i.e. including ambient PM2.5, ozone and HAP) is estimated at about 115 deaths per 100,000 people. For comparison, the estimated figure for India was 138 deaths per 100,000 people, 49 in Japan, 43 in Western Europe and 31 in the US"<ref name="air pollution in china"/>

| 2015 || || {{w|Water pollution}} || A reported 3.78 billion cubic meters of untreated wastewater was discharged across China in the year. This is water that has been ruled unusable for agricultural, industrial and even decorative purposes dumped into rivers and lakes.<ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite web |title=In China, the water you drink is as dangerous as the air you breathe |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/02/china-water-dangerous-pollution-greenpeace |website=theguardian.com |accessdate=19 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2016 || || || The Regional Ozone Sino-US Collaborative Research Center is established at Duke Kunshan University. It is the first research institute for ozone pollution control in the country.<ref name="As China Cuts Air Pollution, An Unseen Killer Emerges">{{cite web |title=As China Cuts Air Pollution, An Unseen Killer Emerges |url=https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1003590/as-china-cuts-air-pollution%2C-an-unseen-killer-emerges |website=sixthtone.com |accessdate=14 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2016 || September || || The Innovative Financing for Air Pollution Control in Jing-Jin-Ji Region Program is launched, with the goal to finance projects helping to reduce coal consumption.<ref name="Helping China Fight Air Pollution"/>

| 2017 || || || ". More recently, President Xi Jinping, on a state visit to Washington, announced that China would initiate a national cap-and-trade emissions program in 2017."<ref name="China’s Environmental Crisis"/><ref>{{cite web |title=China to Announce Cap-and-Trade Program to Limit Emissions |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/25/world/asia/xi-jinping-china-president-obama-summit.html?_r=0 |website=nytimes.com |accessdate=13 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2017 || || || "The China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection calculates an annual average PM2.5 concentration of 43 µg/m3 for China’s cities in 2017, more than 4 times the level of 10 µg/m3 recommended by the WHO."<ref name="How China is cleaning up its air pollution faster than the post-Industrial UK">{{cite web |last1=Stoerk |first1=Thomas |title=blogs.edf.org |url=http://blogs.edf.org/markets/2018/05/17/how-china-is-cleaning-up-its-air-pollution-faster-than-the-post-industrial-uk/ |website=How China is cleaning up its air pollution faster than the post-Industrial UK |accessdate=13 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2017 || October || Policy || China halts more than 150 coal-fired power plants after launching first regional Environmental Protection Bureau to consolidate cuts in air pollution following party conference. The measures are a part of an aggressive action plan that aims to cut wintertime particulate pollution by 15% year-on-year over the next five months.<ref name="Beautiful China">{{cite web |title=‘Beautiful China’: Beijing starts the biggest shutdown of steel factories in history |url=https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2017/10/30/china-starts-the-biggest-shutdown-of-steel-factories-in-history/ |website=unearthed.greenpeace.org |accessdate=14 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=China halts more than 150 coal-fired power plants |url=https://unearthed.greenpeace.org/2017/10/11/china-halts-150-coal-fired-power-plants/ |website=unearthed.greenpeace.org |accessdate=14 May 2019}}</ref>

| 2018 || July || || Government initiates three-year plan to curb air pollution, released, making certain provisions for ozone control, such as compelling manufacturers to repair and replace VOC-emitting installations and applying legal upper limits on VOC concentration in paints, inks, and adhesives.<ref name="As China Cuts Air Pollution, An Unseen Killer Emerges"/>  

| 2018 || September || {{w|Light pollution}} || Chinese scientists from the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth conduct nighttime light pollution research using a domestically-produced remote sensing satellite.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chinese scientists use domestic satellite to conduct light pollution research |url=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-09/09/c_137456440.htm |website=xinhuanet.com |accessdate=19 May 2019}}</ref>