Joint prevention and control mechanism for air pollution regulations in China: A policy simulation approach with evolutionary game

China's environmentalism with autocratic characteristics has far-reaching effects for fighting air pollution effectively. Political blue sky is unsustainable because conflict of interest in China's authoritarian environmentalism leads to failure of joint prevention and control in air pollution regulations. This study aims to explore policy mechanisms that would integrate intergovernmental join efforts in air pollution control. A non-cooperative tripartite evolutionary game is employed to model the dynamic interactions among the central government, Beijing municipality, and local governments for fighting air pollution. A double-payment with dual-supervision mechanism is proposed for air pollution control in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region. Simulations are conducted to examine the effectiveness of air pollution regulations involving multiple policy instruments for yielding the ideal outcome. It is shown that appropriate coordination of these policy instruments can address the intergovernmental challenge in collective action against air pollution. In addition, two long-term scenarios per the Porter hypothesis are investigated regarding environmental tax reform and enterprise innovations. It is found that such long-term inspirations can improve regulatory flexibility and efficacy. The double-payment with dual-supervision mechanism can effectively engage all governmental stakeholders for promoting sustainable air pollution governance in China. From a methodology perspective, policy simulations in an evolutionary game framework provide a novel addition to the research toolkit for policy studies.     

An Inexact Fuzzy-robust Two-stage Programming Model for Managing Sulfur Dioxide Abatement Under Uncertainty

In this study, an inexact fuzzy-robust two-stage programming (IFRTSP) method is developed for tackling multiple forms of uncertainties that can be expressed as discrete intervals, probabilistic distributions and/or fuzzy membership functions. The model can reflect economic penalties of corrective measures against any infeasibilities arising due to a particular realization of system uncertainties. Moreover, the fuzzy decision space can be delimited into a more robust one with the uncertainties being specified through dimensional enlargement of the original fuzzy constraints. A management problem in terms of regional air pollution control has been studied to illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach. Results indicate that useful solutions for planning the air quality management practices have been generated. They can help decision makers identify desired pollution-abatement strategy with minimized system cost and maximized environmental efficiency.     

Examining the Factors Affecting Air Pollution Emission Growth in China

In this study, a structural decomposition method was applied to research the factors affecting the changes in air pollution emissions in China. Based on 1995–2009 data from the World IO Database, we combine China’s (Import) Noncompetitive IO Table and the Environmental Account Table. The results indicate that emission intensities represent the most important factor for reducing air pollution emissions in China. In contrast, economies of scale and the intermediate input product structure constitute the major causes for acceleration in the growth of air pollution emissions in China. From the perspective of final demand, the economic scale effect caused by investment demand is the main reason for this accelerated growth in China’s air pollution emissions in recent years. Consumption-driven economic growth is cleaner, while investment-driven economic growth is dirtier. This study constructed a structure decomposition model based on the input-output tables, which is suitable for studying the driving forces of various economic indicators, such as energy, carbon dioxide, and economic growth. At the same time, this method is helpful for analyzing the factors that influence changes in economic indicators that result from different economic pull modes, such as the final demand mode. However, the model does have limitations; for example, it does not consider the difference between general trade and processing trade in exports.     

江苏省地方环境保护标准体系建设刍议

简述了国内环境标准发展趋势，以及国内地方环境标准制订情况，分析了江苏省地方标准现状及问题。提出，应完成现有地方标准修订备案；重点制定新兴行业和大气污染控制标准；加强技术规范、技术政策的制定和编制；建立完善的标准执行与反馈机制。     

西藏自治区“十二五”和“十三五”环境空气质量变化特征

"十二五"以来中国先后颁布了一系列大气污染防治政策并实施相应的大气污染治理措施以提高环境空气质量。为研究西藏自治区"十二五"(2011-2015年)和"十三五"(2016 -2020年)时期环境空气质量变化状况,评估大气污染防治措施实施效果,笔者对2011-2020年西藏自治区7个城市(地区)主要大气污染物浓度和优良天数比例变化进行分析。结果表明:随着一系列大气污染防治措施的实施,西藏自治区环境空气质量显著提升,与"十二五"时期相比,"十三五"时期西藏自治区年平均优良天数比例由97.5%±2.0%提升至99.3%±0.4%,SO₂、 NO₂、 PM₁₀、 PM_2.5浓度年均值和CO 浓度第95百分位数均呈下降趋势,其中CO、PM₁₀和PM_2.5浓度下降幅度较大,O₃日最大8h滑动平均值第90百分位数略有上升。西藏自治区环境空气质量与人口、经济发展程度呈负相关关系。受污染源排放、气象条件和区域传输等因素影响,西藏自治区O₃浓度春、夏季较高,而其余污染物浓度冬季较高。     

Latitudinal and longitudinal variations in the impact of air pollution on well-being in China

Air pollution has resulted in high costs of living due to additional expenditures to combat the negative health effects, and the relationship between air pollution and well-being is of burgeoning interest. In this paper, the development and life index including 42 indicators is introduced to measure much broader dimensions of well-being in China at the macro level, which helps to compare the well-being of different regions. This paper uses provincial-level panel data from 2004 to 2013 in China, to empirically analyze and compare the impact of air pollution on well-being in latitudinal and longitudinal settings, based on regression methods, such as 2SLS, LIML, GMM and IGMM. The results show that although increased air pollution negatively affects well-being in general, the magnitude of the impact differs by region. Specifically, in China's northern regions, air pollution had a significantly negative impact on well-being, while the negative impact was weaker in southern China; moreover, a strong negative impact was found in western China, while a weak negative impact was found in eastern and central China. The time effect was also found to influence air pollution. Finally, this paper found that the natural birth rate and income level served as functional mechanisms of the effect of air pollution on regional well-being. These findings are useful in guiding government policy for determining the optimal balance between air quality control for economic growth and regional well-being.     

Exploring the effect of air pollution on settlement intentions from migrants: Evidence from China

Based on the China Migrants Dynamic Survey (CMDS) from 2015 to 2017, this paper uses IV-Probit model to investigate the effects of air pollution on migrants' settlement intentions in China. The results show that: First, air pollution has a significant and negative effect on intentions in settling down of the migrants. Specifically, when the concentration of PM_2.5 increases by 1 μg/m³, the probability of migrants settling down in the city which they have moved to for work or business will significantly decrease by 1.89%. Second, there is heterogeneity in the effects of air pollution on migrants' settlement intentions. In detail, the sensitivity to air pollution is higher among female groups, who have higher education levels and prefer better air quality in the living place to settle down, and there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between age and settlement intentions. On the one hand, the conclusion of this paper enriches the relevant theoretical achievements of air pollution and migration. On the other hand, it also has a high reference value for developing more reasonable policies related to urban environmental governance and labor mobility.     

Climate change, urban air problems and transport policy in the European Union

This paper surveys some recent studies on conventional air pollution and climate change in the transport sector in Europe. Fuel efficiency standards, car emission standards and transport pricing instruments are analysed from an economic perspective taking into account environmental and economic efficiency objectives. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessing the impact of environmental regulation on pollution abatement and collaborative emissions reduction: Micro-evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises

Given the rapid industrialization and urbanization of China, environmental problems have gradually become major constraints that hinder its sustainable economic development. Moreover, China's pollution abatement and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions have been severely affected by pressures coming from domestic environmental appeals and international environmental diplomacy. By using integrated data from the Chinese Industrial Enterprise and the Chinese Enterprise Environmental Survey and Reporting databases, this study constructs comprehensive indicators of pollutant discharge intensity and carbon emissions index at the enterprise level and uses the panel fixed effect model, Kaya identity, and mediation effect model to assess the effects of environmental regulations on pollution abatement and collaborative emissions reduction from the micro-perspective. Results show that these regulations can abate the pollution emissions of Chinese industrial enterprises and verify the effectiveness of environmental policies. These regulations can also efficiently reduce the carbon dioxide emissions of enterprises through pollution abatement. In other words, environmental regulations facilitate a collaborative emissions reduction of pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from enterprises. Such collaborative emissions reduction effect is also influenced by the energy structure and consumption of enterprises. This paper presents empirical evidence and policy basis for further improving China's environmental regulation policy system and achieving coordinated progress in China's economic development and environmental governance.     

Air pollution exposure monitoring and estimation. Part III. Development of new types of air quality indicators

The temporal pattern of exposure to a specific compound may affect health in several ways. Exposure to pollution can have short-term effects or long-term effects. For some compounds there is a threshold under which there is no presumed measurable effect, whereas for other compounds, there is no presumed threshold. For short-term effects, the exposure to a high concentration of a compound one day may either increase or decrease the response if values of the same compound become high again the next day. Adaptation to effects of short-term exposure to ozone, for example, is reported. Similarly, health response to sudden high peaks of concentration may also possibly differ in effect from those to peaks attained more gradually. For long-term effects of some compounds, the cumulative exposure may be more decisive in influencing health. This paper proposes and describes in detail several air quality indicators that reflect the time variability and the episodic nature of air pollution exposure, as an attempt to represent the temporal aspects of pollution exposure that may have important effects on health. Mean concentrations, 98th percentile and maximum values are the traditional indicators for estimating exposure. The temporal variability of particulate matter (PM10) and NO2, however, is here described by means of: (1) the rate of change of pollution as the difference between two consecutive hourly or daily values, and of (2) episodes, described in terms of number, duration and inter-episode period, maximum concentration in the episode, and integrated episode exposure.     

Air pollution exposure monitoring and estimating. Part I. Integrated air quality monitoring system

This paper presents an integrated exposure monitoring system, based on an expansion of existing air quality monitoring systems using dispersion modelling. The system allows: (1) identifying geographical areas whose inhabitants are most exposed to ambient pollution; (2) identifying how many people in an area are exposed to concentrations of pollution exceeding air quality guidelines; (3) describing the exposure of population subgroups (e.g. children); (4) planning pollution abatement measures and quantifying their effects; (5) establishing risk assessment and management programs, and (6) investigating the short- and long-term effects of both pollutants and pollution sources on public health. The effect of pollution is rarely very large and in order to discover it, exposure estimation must provide data that reflects both spatial and temporal variations. Estimates of pollution exposure are obtained using an integrated approach that combines results of measurements from monitoring programs with dispersion calculations. These values can serve as estimates for individual short-term or long-term exposure. The grouped data allows the expression of ambient pollution concentrations as the spatial distribution of estimates such as the mean or 98th percentile of such compounds as SO2, O3, NO2, PM10 and PM2.5. This integrated approach has been combined into a single software package, AirQUIS.     

Analysis and evaluation of the regional air quality index forecasting based on web-text sentiment analysis method

Quality analysis is the science of in-depth monitoring supported by interactive visual interfaces, and it has many applications in environmental fields. According to nature, both manual and natural issues do not adequately understand the danger factor monitoring approach since they cannot correctly take all the information as an accessible one. Therefore, this paper suggests a web-text analysis based regional air quality index forecasting (WEBT-RAQIF) method for the air quality index monitoring development and evaluation of pollution research. In the context of acquiring a system familiar to a large number of research experiments, a web-text analysis method has developed to support monitoring and analysis issues. In this process, the added benefit of web-text has been illustrated by contrasting traditional monitoring approaches with immersive web-text analysis techniques through various user domains. The empirical evidence of the added value for general monitoring has been analyzed by web-text analysis     

主体功能区环境政策导向研究

环境政策是主体功能区区域政策的重要组成部分，从环境准入政策、环境管理政策和环境经济政策3个方面研究提出了不同主体功能区域的环境政策导向，以推动主体功能区分类别环境政策框架体系的形成。     

Ex - post evaluation of a program to reduce critical episodes due to air pollution in southern Chile

There is enough scientific evidence that associates air pollution by particulate matter (PM) with negative impacts on health. However, one-third of the world's population uses highly polluting fuels for cooking, heating, or lighting, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Due to the above, the environmental authorities of most of the countries have established different short-, medium-, and long-term regulations to reduce this pollution. It should be noted that it is challenging to identify the real effectiveness of this type of regulation since it is necessary to determine whether the pollution was reduced exclusively by the implementation of that regulation or due to other confusing factors. To address this issue, the present study performs an ex - post evaluation of the Critical Episodes Management program that imposes restrictions on the use of firewood heaters during pre-emergency and emergency episodes to reduce air pollution in the short-term in the city of Temuco, Chile (one of the most polluted cities in Latin America). Specifically, a fixed-effects panel data regression is applied to hourly concentrations of particulate matter data, controlling by meteorological and seasonal factors. The results show that restrictions on the use of firewood heaters generate a significant reduction in PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 concentrations during pre-emergency episodes (9.2% and 17.5%) and emergency episodes (5.9% and 16.3%). Thus, it can be concluded that this program is useful, but it must be complemented by others medium- and long-term environmental programs.     

改善山西大气污染现状的对策措施初探

以山西省大气环境质量和污染现状为基础,深入分析了污染成因及其影响,并以此提出了进一步改善山西省大气环境质量,控制大气污染的技术、经济、管理等方面的对策措施。     

内蒙古自治区“十三五”期间生态环境质量

为了解内蒙古自治区"十三五"期间的生态环境质量状况,以自治区生态环境监测网数据为依据,较全面地研究了"十三五"期间内蒙古生态环境质量变化特征及社会经济与环境质量的关联性,总结归纳了尚存的环境问题。结果表明:"十三五"期间,内蒙古生态环境质量全面好转,环境空气质量明显改善,地表水水质由中度污染转为轻度污染,沙尘天气减少,声环境质量总体改善,主要污染物排放量下降,未出现酸雨现象。但与此同时,仍存在不少环境问题,后续改善难度加大,区域大气污染治理成效还需进一步稳固,部分地表水存在污染较重的状况,生态环境仍较敏感。经济发展与环境质量相关指标基本呈负相关关系。总体来看,内蒙古自治区"十三五"期间生态环境质量全面改善,但当前生态环境质量与2035年远景目标还有较大差距。     

A Metamodeling Approach for Integrated Assessment of Air Quality Policies

A method is proposed to build integrated models (also called Metamodels) aimed at quantifying the economic efficiency of air quality policies. This Metamodeling approach is based on the coupling of two complementary models, that operate at different scales in space and time, and which represent the economic and the physical and chemical processes, respectively. The joint consideration of the physico-chemical and techno-economic structure of the pollution control problems permits a comprehensive evaluation of air pollution abatement strategies. The motivating pollution control problems include urban-regional air quality management through efficient energy and traffic control policies. A pilot study, exploiting data collected in the Geneva canton (Switzerland), is used to demonstrate the potential of the approach.     

Environmental assessment and investment strategies of provincial industrial sector in China — Analysis based on DEA model

As an energy-intensive industry, the industrial sector consumes 70% of energy consumption and causes serious environmental pollution in China. Also, the government emphasized the promotion of R&D investment in the industrial sector in China's National Plan on Climate Change (2014–2020). It is meaningful and contributes to assessing energy and environmental performance, as well as R&D and industrial pollution control (IPC) investment strategies of China's industrial sector. A non-radial DEA model, as with natural and managerial disposability, was adopted to evaluate this from provincial and regional perspectives during the 2008–2012 period. Energy and environmental performance was evaluated by unified efficiency under natural disposability (UEN), unified efficiency under managerial disposability (UEM), and unified efficiency under natural and managerial disposability (UENM). The empirical results indicated that Shandong and Hainan were efficient under natural and managerial disposability, while other provinces had the potential to improve their energy and environmental performance. The number of provinces that was fit for investments of R&D and IPC increased from 2008 to 2010, then decreased in 2011 and 2012. In spite of this, many provincial industrial sectors should make efforts to reduce pollution by investment on technology. Tianjin, Heilongjiang, Jiangxi and Henan were especially the best investment objects because investments of R&D and IPC turned to be effective for them during the whole study period. Moreover, western China had the highest average UENM, followed by eastern China and central China. Eastern China and central China were rewarding to expand investments. Coal consumption was the main factor to negatively affect unified efficiency whereas the increase in economic development level was primarily responsible for the improvement of unified efficiency. According to the results, differentiated suggestions to further improve energy and environmental performance were proposed.     

灰霾天气城市空气污染程度判据指标体系建立的探讨

灰霾天气加重空气污染程度,是空气污染呈现区域性、复合型污染的重要天气污染现象,对视觉空气质量以及人体健康造成很大影响与危害.针对灰霾天气下城市空气污染加重程度判据系统建立,对灰霾天气下空气污染程度评估方法及建立污染程度与能见度量化相关关系进行了初步探讨.     

济南市环境空气质量及空气污染源监控网络的研究开发

介绍的济南市环境空气质量及空气污染源监控网络是《山东省可持续发展十大科技示范工程》,"济南市环境空气污染综合治理技术的研究开发与示范"子课题的主要内容,由魏复盛、王文兴院士等组成的专家组于2003年12月完成了课题的鉴定,课题总体达到了国际先进水平。主要包括济南市环境空气质量监控网络的完善,环境空气重点污染源监控网络的建立,开发建立环境空气预警系统、环境空气监测报警与控制系统四个方面。对建立空气质量的预警与控制系统具有示范作用。