where we work / China

China’s transportation-sector CO₂ emissions more than doubled from 2000 to 2010 and are projected to increase by another 54 percent by 2020 from 2010 levels. For China to meet its 2020 target to reduce economy-wide carbon intensity by 17 percent in 2015 from 2010 levels, the growth in emissions must be approximately cut in half.

Led by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the nation is taking steps to make that happen. Phase III of China’s light duty vehicle fuel consumption regulations includes its first-ever standards for fleet average fuel consumption, which will reduce fuel consumption to 7 L/100km by 2015, a 13 percent improvement of new fleet vehicles between 2008 and 2015. Phase IV standards are under development. For heavy duty vehicles, China is in the process of developing Phase 1 standards, expected for 2015–2020.

China also faces challenges related to conventional pollutants and air quality. Annual average concentrations of coarse particulate matter (PM10) nationwide are at 98 µg/m³, which exceeds the World Health Organization ambient air quality standard by a factor of five. All 29 Chinese cities for which ground-based measurements are reported experience levels of air pollution at least double the recommended WHO standard.