Official: China's environment still deteriorating

Zhang Lijun, China’s vice minister of environmental protection, said Wednesday that overall the country’s environment is still deteriorating, with improvements only seen in certain areas, AFP reported. Although China is fulfilling its 2006-2010 goals of cutting sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand – the major causes of air and water pollution, respectively – other emissions are rising, Zhang said. The reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions, for example, came as a result of efforts to remove sulfur from coal, but China still consumed over 3 billion tons of coal last year, an annual record. Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission and China’s chief representative at the Copenhagen climate change talks in December, said 2010 would be a decisive year for the country in terms of meeting its energy-saving targets. China reduced energy consumption per unit of GDP by just over 14% between 2006 and 2009, but requires a 6% cut in 2010 to reach its five-year target.

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