Publications·November 30, 2024
This Clean Air Asia publication updates the 2022 edition and benchmarks China’s last decade of air-quality progress against peers across East, South, and South-East Asia (with selected EU/US comparators). It compiles comparable indicators for air quality, emissions, greenhouse gases, energy, transport, and key industrial sectors, and adds three special subreports on PM₂.₅ source apportionment, monitoring networks, and economic development vs. air quality. The thread running through the report is that it’s increasingly possible to achieve economic growth and cleaner air simultaneously, provided policies are science-based, standards keep tightening, and enforcement capacity scales.
Economic growth decoupled from pollution—at least for some.
The report argues that Asia’s rapid urbanization and industrialization have historically driven up energy use and emissions; however, China’s trajectory since the 2013 Air Pollution Action Plan shows decoupling: between 2013–2023, national average PM₂.₅ fell ~58% and SO₂ ~78% even as GDP, energy consumption, and vehicle ownership grew. China’s PM₂.₅ is now at WHO IT-1 levels nationally (≈30 µg/m³) and below the country’s current standard (Class II), though still far from the WHO AQG. Meanwhile, many South Asian countries (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan) remain well above even IT-1, with severe PM₂.₅ exposure imposing large health-cost burdens.
Where cities stand today.
Across 28 Asian megacities assessed for 2020–2023, nine of the fourteen with improving three-year average PM₂.₅ are in East Asia (six in China). Capitals like New Delhi and Dhaka remain outliers at the high end; Kuala Lumpur saw a recent uptick. The report visualizes 2023 city concentrations alongside WHO interim targets and the AQG, underscoring the scale of the remaining gap in many places.
Ozone is the stubborn pollutant.
While NO₂ and SO₂ generally trend downward, O₃ has risen across many Asian countries over the past decade, driven by chemistry that is often VOC-limited and by rising CH₄ globally. China, Mongolia, and the Philippines show improvements, but Republic of Korea and parts of South/South-East Asia have seen significant ozone-season increases. The policy implication: rebalance precursor control toward NMVOCs and address methane.
What contributes to PM₂.₅ in Asian cities.
The special source-apportionment review across 17 key cities finds mobile sources dominate or are a leading contributor in most (average 28.4%, range 8–52%; Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Delhi, Jakarta >20%). Coal-burning contributions have plunged where clean energy transitions occurred (e.g., Beijing coal share in PM₂.₅ fell from 22% in 2013 to 3% in 2020). In port cities (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen) shipping is a non-trivial contributor (e.g., ~12% in Hong Kong 2015; 3.2% in Shanghai 2020).
Monitoring: capacity expanding but uneven.
Roughly 60% of Asia-Pacific governments now monitor the common criteria pollutants; yet network density and technical capacity lag in many low- and middle-income countries. China and Japan lead by station counts (>1,700 and >1,400 respectively); India and Republic of Korea have 500–1,000. By contrast, Dhaka has just three stations. China’s national build-out since 2013—1,436 state-controlled stations in 338 cities within three years, now 1,734—is emphasized as decisive for transparency, compliance, and public awareness.
Standards drive improvement—next up: “raise” and “fully meet” standards.
The report inventories national ambient standards across Asia against WHO’s 2021 AQG. Many countries set IT-2 (25 µg/m³) or IT-3 (15 µg/m³) for annual PM₂.₅; some (e.g., Pakistan, Bangladesh) have stringent limits on paper but don’t meet them in practice. China’s national limit remains at IT-1 (35 µg/m³)—“practical but effective” as a first step—yet the 2023 Action Plan sets a deadline of 2027 for all prefecture-level cities to reach compliance and signals standard revision ahead, aligning with a “raise the bar and achieve full compliance” agenda. The report also notes the US tightened the annual PM₂.₅ NAAQS to 9 µg/m³ in Feb 2024, and the EU revised its directive to 10 µg/m³ in Oct 2024, underscoring global ratcheting.
Emissions intensity is falling—especially in China.
From 2011–2022 China cut SO₂ per GDP by >94% and NOₓ per GDP by >81%, outpacing reductions in many peers. Total CO₂ continues to climb with growth, but CO₂ intensity fell ~36% (2011–2022) and by ~67% since 1990. Sectorally, power and industry account for ~70% of CO₂; that structure is broadly similar across Asia, though some countries (e.g., Cambodia, UK, US) have transport as the top sector. Many Asian governments have now announced net-zero/carbon-neutral timelines (China “dual-carbon” 2030/2060).
Energy transitions are underway, but fossil dependence persists.
Coal remains dominant in China, India, Mongolia, Viet Nam (each >50% of energy consumption); much of South-East Asia is still petroleum-heavy (Singapore ~85% petroleum). Yet since 2010, installed non-hydro renewables have grown exponentially across Asia. China’s renewable capacity is ~32× its 1990 level and now nearly half of installed power capacity; renewable generation is ~22× 1990 and ~one-third of national output. Viet Nam’s non-hydro renewables expanded from 1.6% → 27.6% of capacity (2018–2022).
Power and industry standards: rapid tightening.
China’s ultra-low emission regime for coal power plants sets limits of PM 10 mg/m³, SO₂ 35 mg/m³, NOₓ 50 mg/m³—about 1/5 (SO₂) and 1/3 (NOₓ) of EU limits—and far stricter than some Asian peers (e.g., Cambodia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka). Comparable tightening is documented for steel and cement, with progressive emission-limit upgrades versus other countries.
Transport: standards, fuels, and electrification.
On light-duty vehicles, CHINA 6b (since 1 July 2023) is more stringent than Euro 6 in several respects (including evaporative controls). On heavy-duty, CHINA VI slashed lab NOₓ and PM limits by 80%/50% vs. CHINA V, while Euro VII (2027) and US heavy-duty 2027 standards push further, adding NH₃/N₂O limits and much lower NOₓ/PM. Fuels have been tightened to 10 ppm sulfur in China (since 2017), and most Asian countries now align fuel quality with their vehicle-standard stage. Electrification has moved from niche to mainstream: EV sales grew at ~52.6%/yr globally (2013–2023); China’s EV sales grew ~86.7%/yr, hitting 60% global share and 38% domestic market penetration in 2023. Multiple Asian countries have quantitative EV targets (e.g., Singapore 2030 registrations = cleaner-energy only; Thailand 30% ZEV manufacturing by 2030). China is piloting 80% EV share for newly purchased public fleets in 15 cities by 2025. Shipping controls (ECAs, fuel sulfur, NOₓ tiers) and domestic-engine standards are also compared.
Bottom line.
The report presents an evidence-rich case that policy stringency + measurement + structural shifts can deliver fast, large cuts in PM-forming emissions—even alongside rapid motorization and growth. The unfinished agenda features: (i) O₃ control via NMVOCs/CH₄; (ii) sustained monitoring expansion and harmonization; (iii) continued standard tightening (ambient and mobile/stationary); (iv) deeper energy transition; and (v) scaling EVs/clean fleets and port/ship measures. It positions China’s decade as a learning reference for Asian peers, while emphasizing that “raise standards and achieve full compliance” is the next test.
Keywords (from the scan)
PM₂.₅; O₃/ozone; NO₂; SO₂; WHO AQG & IT-1/2/3/4; 2013 Air Pollution Action Plan; 2023 Action Plan (full compliance by 2027); source apportionment (traffic 8–52%); shipping emissions; monitoring networks (China 1,734 state-controlled stations; density gaps in South Asia); standards tightening (US 2024 PM₂.₅=9 µg/m³; EU PM₂.₅=10 µg/m³); CHINA 6b, CHINA VI, Euro VII, US HD 2027; 10 ppm sulfur fuels; EV surge (China 60% global share, 38% penetration in 2023); renewables scaling (capacity/generation 32×/22× vs. 1990); ultra-low-emission coal power; steel/cement limits; energy intensity & CO₂ intensity declines; net-zero timelines.