What Nations Can do to Help with Climate Change
How regulations can help with pollution
If humans can’t even breathe the air, how is anything supposed to survive? Due to increasing CO2 emissions, air pollution is becoming a more pressing issue in every country around the world. Some of the leading causes of air pollution are the burning of fossil fuels and cities relying on coal energy. If we don’t do something about air pollution soon, we are in trouble.
According to the UN, most fossil fuels are burned by low-income countries. Large cities around the world contribute heavily to air pollution. The UN is partnering with “UN-Habitat, UNEP, the World Bank and Cities Alliance [to establish] the Joint Work Programme to assist cities in developing countries to mainstream environmental considerations into urban policymaking”(United Nations). The UN has tried to influence air pollution regulations on companies and cities, but in some places, air pollution is continuing to get worse rather than stabilize or decrease. In the US, on average, there were “15 percent more days with unhealthy air in the country in 2018 and 2017 compared to the average from 2013 to 2016”(Nunez). There isn’t one specific reason why this is so, but scientists suggest it is due to an increase in demand for goods as the world population grows.
China is one example where climate change, air pollution specifically, is a major issue. China had many years of major industrial expansion, which produced smog across cities. Now the government is trying to remedy this by instituting new plans for pollution-reduction by closing down coal-fired power plants. Many governments are joining the fight against climate change by signing agreements such as the Paris Agreement, ratified on November fourth of 2016, outlining pollution-reduction goals for the future.
Even though China is making strides towards less pollution, the “airpocalypse” in Beijing from coal smoke is still a leading contributor to climate change. China has promised to “make our skies blue again” and lower “the production of steel and of coal-fired electricity. To replace coal, China is rolling out the world’s biggest investment in wind and solar power”(Longobardi). This is a great way to reduce air pollution in China. Other countries should follow in China’s footsteps and start to adopt similar policies. Many cities across China have encouraged residents to give up coal stoves and furnaces. There are requirements for higher-quality gasoline and diesel to fuel vehicles, and new car emissions standards are set to take effect in 2020. The government said it would cut steel production capacity by 50 million tons. These new policies are great on paper, but it is unclear how they will be enforced. The government could have surprise inspections on companies across China to ensure they are following the regulations. To make an impact, China will have to reduce emissions by much more than what’s currently proposed.
So far in China this year, the emissions compared to other years have dropped significantly. This, unfortunately, isn’t due to the new policies in place, but a much more somber reason. During the Lunar New Year in China, emissions always drop significantly, but pick up soon after to make up for the work lost due to the festivities. Coronavirus has caused factories in China to stay closed, and as a result, their emissions have stayed much lower than usual. This isn’t a permanent solution and looking at it objectively, it is good for the environment as the carbon emissions are about 25% lower this year than they were last year. “The three-week decline is roughly equal to the amount of carbon dioxide that the state of New York puts out in a full year”(Plumer). The improvement is substantial and China should try to maintain these lower carbon levels, whether that be with air scrubbers or finding other ways to power factories.
While the improvements in policy are helping, more can be done. It isn’t just up to China. Other nations need to step up and make a change soon. People need to write to their governments and make a stance against air pollution and force companies and the government to make better choices. If something doesn’t change soon, the rates of air-pollution-related illnesses will go up, and more and more deaths will occur.
Works cited:
Longobardi, Nicola, and Nicolas Asfouri. “China’s Surprising Solutions to Clear Killer Air.” China’s Surprising Solutions to Air Pollution, 17 Oct. 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/05/china-air-pollution-solutions-environment-tangshan/.
Nunez, Christina. “Air Pollution, Facts and Information.” Air Pollution, Facts and Information, 25 June 2019, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/pollution/.
Plumer, Brad, et al. “The Coronavirus and Carbon Emissions.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 26 Feb. 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/climate/nyt-climate-newsletter-coronavirus.html.
“UNITED NATIONS Climate Change — Summit 2019.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/climatechange/cities-pollution.shtml.
