Experts recommend initiating a revision of air quality standards in due course

"Over the past decade, China has made positive progress in the field of air pollution prevention and control, which has also brought considerable health benefits. Zhu Tong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a professor at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Peking University, affirmed the continuous improvement of China's air quality, "Launching the revision of air quality standards in a timely manner and strengthening the leading and driving role of standards will help continuously improve air quality and public health." ”

Recently, the Air-Climate-Health Integrated Research Program and Exchange Platform held an annual conference and report conference in Beijing, which was jointly supported and released by the School of Environmental Science and Engineering of Peking University, the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the School of Public Health of Fudan University.

Air quality standards should keep pace with the times

According to the World Health Organization's 2021 Global Air Quality Guidelines and Air Quality Monitoring Data Report, 99% of the world's population is exposed to air pollution at concentrations above the guideline. Although China's air quality has improved significantly in the past decade, it is still one of the countries with high concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the world.

In November 2023, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Continuous Improvement of Air Quality, making comprehensive arrangements for continuous improvement of air quality, and proposing to start research on the revision of ambient air quality standards and related technical specifications. This is a major action by China to consolidate the achievements of the "Blue Sky Defense Campaign".

"Key scientific evidence, such as the current status of population exposure, the spatial and temporal distribution of health risks, the relationship between exposure responses, the mechanism of health injury, and susceptible populations, can provide reference for the study of standard revision from the perspective of population health protection. Gong Jicheng, a researcher at the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at Peking University, said.

Wu Fengchang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, stressed that the study of environmental benchmarks and standards should keep pace with the times and carry out new explorations from the perspective of the interaction between air pollution, climate change and environmental health.

Air pollution and climate change need to be tackled in tandem

The report highlights that climate change is affecting and exacerbating health risks in a variety of ways, including the direct impact of extreme weather events such as heat waves, cold waves, floods, droughts and typhoons, as well as indirect threats to human health by altering the distribution of infectious disease vectors, reducing food yields and deteriorating air quality.

"China must prioritize climate action to address the growing health risks associated with climate change. Liu Qiyong, chief expert on vector biology at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, pointed out.

Air pollution and climate change not only have the characteristics of "homology", but also have different levels of health impacts in different ways, and there are complex associations and interactions. Kan Haidong, a professor at the School of Public Health at Fudan University, said that the report focuses on the coordinated governance of health-driven air pollution and climate change, and puts forward targeted scientific evidence and recommendations, which have important reference value for future environmental governance in China and even the world.

Liu Xin, director of the Environmental Management Program at Energy Foundation China, pointed out that the implementation of the PM2.5 standard limit in China's 2012 air quality standards has helped reduce PM2.5 concentrations by 57% over the past 10 years, resulting in a 21.9% reduction in premature deaths, and related structural adjustment measures have reduced carbon emissions by more than 2.4 billion tons and increased GDP by 69%, achieving synergies between pollution and carbon reduction and health protection. In the future, China should build a beautiful and healthy China with higher standards, and effectively coordinate the strategies of health protection and clean air, safe climate, sustainable energy and economic development by formulating and implementing air quality benchmarks, standards and evaluation systems based on health protection, so as to achieve harmony and unity between man and nature.

"At present, China has clarified the general direction of carbon reduction and pollution reduction synergy, and in the process of achieving the 'dual carbon' goal and continuously improving air quality, scientific consideration needs to be carried out, and the optimal path to improve air quality and carbon emission reduction should be comprehensively considered. Driving the coordinated governance of air and climate with health can help achieve the synergy of multiple development goals and the optimization of pathways. Zhu Tong said. (Reporter Tian Ruiying)