Smog returns to envelop Beijing, just as talks are underway in Glasgow to fight climate change, and China has been openly criticized for the absence of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who participated only with a speech. .
Motorways and open areas of the Chinese capital were recovered due to poor visibility and the concentration of fine dust in the atmosphere, which make it “unhealthy”, or “very unhealthy”, according to the various surveys of the quality indicators. air in the capital.
The rise in CO2 emissions, the main cause of global warming, has been underway for days and coincides with the increase in coal production to address the energy crisis that hit several areas of the north-east of the country last month: the the government wants to ensure a “warm winter” for all residents, according to words repeatedly uttered by the prime minister, Li Keqiang, and the national authorities have ordered to accelerate the production of coal.
In Beijing, local authorities attribute the increase in smog to unfavorable weather conditions and to the increase in smog at the regional level: among the first consequences of the pollution wave, schools in the capital have been ordered to suspend the activities of physical education outdoors.
In addition to Beijing, other Chinese cities (Shanghai, Tianjin and Harbin) also have to deal with smog and the closure of motorway sections due to poor visibility, in some cases less than two hundred meters. The wave of air pollution in Beijing is expected to persist until Saturday evening and subside on Sunday, when snow is expected to arrive.
China is no stranger to smog peaks, although less and less frequent in recent years, after the launch of a campaign to restore the blue sky to the Chinese capital and a process of diversification of the energy mix, where the energy produced by the However, coal still remains in the majority, accounting for about 60% of the country’s energy production.
China, the world‘s largest responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, has pledged to reach their peak by 2030 and reduce them to zero by 2060, with the share of renewable energy to be raised to 25% and 80% respectively. . Currently, over 80% of the country’s energy mix relies on fossil fuels and 60% is made up of coal.