In the fall and winter seasons, the haze problem intensified in parts of the country, while the elimination of yellow and old vehicles, one of the important measures to combat atmospheric pollution, was counterproductive。
On 26 october, the relevant head of the ministry of environmental protection briefed the media on the progress made in the phase-out of yellow and old vehicles in january-september 2014. By the end of september 2014, a total of 3. 9788 million yellow and old vehicles had been phased out throughout the country, or 66. 3 per cent of the 6 million that had been phased out throughout the year。
The officer-in-charge said that overall progress in phasing out had been uneven. One third of the phase-out remains unfinished throughout the country. While some provinces have completed their tasks ahead of schedule, seven remain seriously behind schedule, with fewer than 40 per cent。
In response, yu xin, a deputy researcher at the mobile sources pollution control research unit of the chinese academy of environmental sciences, told journalists of the daily economic news that there were policies in place to encourage the phasing out of yellow and old cars, but with little effort, which led to low motivation on the part of the owners。
In this regard, the experience of other countries could be used to introduce local legislation to restrict the entry of high-polluting vehicles such as yellow and old vehicles into some regions. But this needs to be fully justified。
One third of the year-round tasks remain outstanding/
In order to improve the quality of the atmosphere, the 2014 report on the work of the government proposed the task of phasing out 6 million yellow and old vehicles, and in may 2014 the office of the state council issued the action programme for low-carbon development for energy saving and reducing emissions for 2014-2015, which divided the 6 million yellow and old vehicles into 31 provinces (districts and municipalities) of the country, including 243,000 yellow and old vehicles, or 40. 5 per cent of the phase-out, in the 7 provinces and municipalities of the priority areas of kyinzu, long triangle and pearl triangle; and 357 million in the other 24 provinces (districts and municipalities), representing 59. 5 per cent of the phase-out。
On 24 october this year, the standing committee of the central political bureau of the chinese communist party (cpc), vice-president zhang koryo of the state council, attended the third meeting of the coordinating group for the prevention and control of atmospheric pollution in and around beijing, stressing the need to effectively reduce coal-fire pollution, accelerate the phase-out of yellow-marked and old vehicles, ensure the completion of 6 million missions throughout the year, resolutely curb the burning of fireworks, strengthen law enforcement controls, severely punish violations, improve early warning and emergency response mechanisms, and effectively reduce the impact of heavy pollution weather on the health and productive lives of the population。
The central focus on environmental protection had been demonstrated, but there was still much to be desired in practice. According to the head of the ministry of the environment, by the end of 2013, there were more than 13 million yellow-marked vehicles in the country, representing about 10 per cent of vehicle holdings, and the release of pollutants, which accounted for about 50 per cent of total vehicle pollutant emissions, were an important source of atmospheric pollution. By the end of september 2014, a total of 3. 9788 million yellow and old vehicles had been phased out nationwide, of which 63. 55 million had been phased out in september and 66. 3 per cent had completed 6 million phase-out tasks throughout the year. Overall, progress in the work was uneven, and the officer-in-charge indicated that one third of the phase-out was still pending throughout the year. Of these, qinghai and shandong have completed their total phase-out tasks ahead of schedule; eight provinces (municipalities and districts) such as jiangsu, shanxi, tianjin, liaoning, jilin, sichuan, xinjiang and beijing have completed more than 75 per cent of their total tasks; six provinces (districts) such as guangdong, chongqing, zhejiang, ningxia, yunnan and hunan have completed less than 60 per cent of their tasks; and seven provinces (districts) such as guangxi, tibet, hainan, inner mongolia, hubei, henan and helong river are seriously lagging behind, with less than 40 per cent。
Less policy-enabling and less attractive/
The head of the department of environmental protection stated that the elimination of 6 million yellow and old vehicles was an important task for the state council this year and must be done with determination. It is important to give high priority to further scaling up efforts and to put in place more vigorous measures to enhance sectoral coordination, reschedule work, implement responsibilities, accelerate phase-out and ensure that the phase-out process is completed this year。
The province of hubei, one of the seven provinces (districts) with a significant delay in the phase-out process, reported in october this year that the provincial environmental protection department, in its report on water conservation and air quality improvements, noted that the phase-out of yellow-platards was slow throughout the province and that the completion rate in wuhan was only 17 per cent. With a view to moving forward with the phase-out or expansion of the yellow-marked vehicle restrictions, since 1 october, wuhan city has introduced a three-ring ban on yellow-marked vehicles, and the next step is likely to continue to expand the area of yellow-marked vehicles across the province's municipalities, with further incentives。
In fact, in order to speed up the phase-out, the ministry of the environment and the joint development and reform commission, the ministry of public security, the ministry of finance, the ministry of transport, the ministry of commerce, etc. The department issued a programme for the implementation of the 2014 phase-out of yellow and old vehicles and, beginning in the second half of the year, introduced a work-months out of yellow and old vehicles, informing each location on a monthly basis of the progress of the phase-out. The phase-out has been greatly facilitated by the introduction of accompanying policy measures。
In particular, these measures include: strengthening organizational leadership and establishing working mechanisms; defining mission objectives and implementing phase-out responsibilities; introducing incentives to encourage early phase-out; and strict regulatory measures to regulate the use of space for yellow-marked vehicles。
Of these, 18 provinces, including beijing, shanghai, shandong, zhejiang and guangdong, have implemented programmes or subsidies for the elimination of yellow and old cars, and 84 municipalities at the local level and above have introduced subsidies of up to $80,000 per vehicle。
Overall, however, government subsidies for the elimination of yellow and old vehicles are less attractive than for the sale of used and new vehicles. Yuo xin believes that it is difficult to achieve 100 per cent phase-out without mandatory measures。
Yuo xin suggested that local legislation could be introduced to restrict the access of high-polluting vehicles, such as yellow and old vehicles, to some areas, which already had an international precedent and had some effect on accelerating the elimination of yellow and old vehicles. However, this needs to be fully justified。
“in many places, resistance to yellow sticker legislation may be greater. Because they didn't say they wouldn't let it go when they bought it before, the people now have a problem with the legislation.” yue xin said。
Responsible editor: zhang dei
