Cement plants have been shut down in China to adhere to its pollution regulations. The Chinese government is now backing cement plants in other countries including in Kazakhstan to make up for the lost capacity. This is a regional foot print that China did not have a decade ago.

Water cannons are being used to alleviate smog in the most polluted areas including Bangkok. The World Health Organization says outdoor air pollution caused 4.2 million premature deaths in 2016, claiming far more lives annually than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined. Bangkok are finally going through what China did, realising that it is not fog, it is smog.

Hong Kong environmental inspectors will take to the skies to keep an eye on the city’s waters with drones. This will help enforce a new law that will require ships to use cleaner marine fuels. The drones are designed by the University of Science and Technology.

450 schools were forced to close on Wednesday as Bangkok authorities issued an unprecedented order to manage a pollution crisis that has had an impact worldwide. Things have even got as bad that the authorities have asked people not to burn incense sticks and paper during the Chinese New Year celebrations.

China has continued to produce more methane emissions from its coal mines despite its pledge to curb the planet-warming pollutant, according to new research. I n a paper published Tuesday in Nature Communications, researchers concluded that China had failed to meet its own government regulations requiring coal mines to rapidly reduce methane emissions, at least in the five years after 2010, when the regulations were passed.

After a survey by ECA International, Hong Kong is at its lowest position for 10 years, 40 places below Singapore which is at the top of the list. The drop is mainly attributable to the city’s high level of pollution and the factors taken into consideration also include socio-political tensions, culture and health issues.

Methane emissions from coal mining in China has risen despite tough legislation and ambitious government targets a new study has revealed. The study is based on satellite data and is further proof to fuel concerns that major emitters such as China are fundamentally not meeting the climate change targets.

China is losing enthusiasm for its pollution policy agenda as the economic slow down is blamed on the excessively restrictive smog policy. Traditional industrial and impoverished regions are struggling to grow under the restrictions of the state enforced “war on pollution”.

As part of China’s war on pollution they are increasingly investing in renewable energy to reduce their reliance on coal. In 2018 China’s renewable power production capacity increase by 12%. The type of renewables that increased were hydro and biomass as well as solar and wind. China has been criticised for backing coal powered projects aboard that are no longer supported domestically.