Asia urged to tackle pollution

[Guest guest]

Asia urged to tackle pollution

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/15B83012-82D4-4C73-BFE7-4CD0EA3EECDF.htm

 

 

 

 

Stricter measures are being called for to tackle the increasing air

pollution that cities across Asia are facing.

 

But booming vehicle sales boosted by the region's economic boom are

undercutting domestic efforts to control emission levels.

 

Experts say Asia is too slow to enact regional pacts limiting

harmful emissions and reducing pollution.

 

 

 

 

Air quality researchers at a regional conference this week called on

Asian nations to formulate a pollution control mechanism after studies showed an

increasing number of cross-border environmental problems.

 

Japan says soot from Chinese power stations is poisoning its lakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coal emissions from India and China are polluting the air in

Bangladesh while land-clearing forest fires in Indonesia routinely send a

choking haze across Singapore and Malaysia.

 

These factors, experts say, have turned Asia into the world's most

polluted region.

 

Michal Krzyzanowski, a regional adviser on air quality and health

for the World Health Organisation, said " transboundary air pollution is a big

problem especially in densely-populated areas in East Asia " .

 

" At the moment, there is no mechanism to regulate this transboundary

problem. You need to agree on emission ceilings and common efforts to reduce the

pollution. "

 

He said it took more than 10 years for Europe to come together to

work out a similar regional mechanism.

 

" At the moment, there is no mechanism to regulate this

transboundary problem "

 

Michal Krzyzanowski, World Health Organisation

 

While many governments have toughened vehicle emission standards and

phased out leaded petrol, a few big cities were doing little to enforce laws or

establish effective public transportation systems.

 

Lew Fulton, a transport expert with the UN Environmental Programme,

said the rapid growth of car and motorcycle sales constituted a big part of the

air pollution problem and contributed to rising costs.

 

" We're not only seeing increases in pollutant emission. We're seeing

huge increases in fuel consumption which is coupled tightly with [carbon

dioxide] emissions. "

 

Increased pollution also has economic and health implications in the

region.

 

More than 500,000 people die prematurely every year due to

cardiopulmonary and respiratory illnesses, according to World Health

Organisation estimates.

 

China estimates the problem could be slowing its growth while Hong

Kong fears its foul air is scaring off investors.

 

Cornie Huizenga, head of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities,

said vehicle fleets double every five years for cities in Asia.

 

Towering car makers

Asia's rapid transport sector growth to contribute 60 per cent

of greenhouse gases in the next few decades

 

Indian car sector has grown by 20 per cent annually since 2000

 

China poised to be world's largest car maker by 2015

 

Hanoi has 1.5 million motorcycles from almost none 10 years

ago

 

Indonesia's 33 million motorcycles dwarf the country's 7.4

million car ownership

 

Recognising that there is no sign of vehicle sales slowing down, the

delegates called on governments to boost fuel efficiency standards and promote

the purchase of more fuel-efficient cars.

 

They also urged increased spending on clean-burning public transport

projects and roads designed with bicycles and pedestrian lanes.

 

The conference, among the biggest in Asia, was attended by 900

experts and government officials from 20 countries.

 

The regional meeting comes at a time when Asia is coming to terms

with the downside of the double-digit economic growth, especially in India and

China.