Changing China

The Battle for Beijing’s Air (video)

On the first day of the Copenhagen climate change summit, Beijingers were experiencing what authorities called a ‘slightly polluted’ day.

Air quality in the capital has improved, thanks in part to the movement of factories elsewhere and new traffic restrictions first experimented with ahead of last year’s Olympics.

Official weather monitors boasted over 80 percent ‘blue sky days’ in the first half of this year – the best air quality in over a decade (though the reliability of results is disputed – see the US embassy monitor’s take on Monday’s air quality here…) 

With an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 new cars hitting the city’s roads every day, residents like Mr. He (see video) are still waiting for a breath of fresher air.

China: Green or Gray?

As Copenhagen’s climate talks draw near, more and more critics are turning to the world’s biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and asking how much damage has been done and what is being done about it?

China’s booming double-digit growth came with a price. Coal, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels produces 80 percent of the country’s energy. But China says change is already well underway. The government recently announced that it aims to cut 2005 carbon intensity levels by 40-45 percent by 2020.

A snowy message to Obama.

A wintery climate change warning from Beijing’s Great Wall – and a snowy hike for those involved.

This chilly climate change message led Beijing Oxfam volunteers, organisers and journalists on a long hike along a deserted and slippery Great Wall and across fields before finally setting up for a photoshoot which would send an unexpectedly snowy climate message to U.S. President Barack Obama.