In China alone, air pollution causes over 1m premature deaths every year as proven by a 2018 study conducted at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Despite urbanisation continuing to grow, this does not excuse governments for failing to address air pollution and with seismic resources and capacity for nationwide policy co-ordination, China should be leading the way of the change.

Whilst slanting towards encouraging the Chinese to favour electric vehicles through a change in license plates (which is exciting as Beijing has limited the number of license plates available to aspiring buyers. Whilst this is positive, the question remains around what will happen post this; will EV sales plummet? Also, will other Chinese cities and regions adopt similar programmes?

Joe Biden has pledged to fight against China spreading coal globally, should he become president in 2020. He believes they are by far the worst emitters of carbon in the world and wants to combat climate change.

Donald Trump has attached big economies over climate change pointing at India and China as examples of those who don’t have ‘good’ air or water. He comments that such countries don’t fulfil their responsibilities towards the environment. Such statements were made during his visit to the UK. America exited from the Paris Agreement on climate changing, bolding claiming that the US had one of the ‘cleanest climates’ in the world.

Rising emissions and air pollution levels threaten global public health, the World Health Organisation has warned. The fossil fuel combustion that is largely driving climate change also is a major source of air pollution, leading to 7 million premature deaths worldwide every year. The health benefits far outweigh the costs of meeting climate change goals, and the benefit-to-cost ratio is even higher in countries such as China and India.

China’s top coal and coke supplier, was recently criticized by the environmental watchdog for defying Beijing’s pollution fight by allowing the expansion of its coke production capacity. The special emission standard set a much higher bar for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds from coke plants, and therefore Shanxi will close all coke plants that cannot meet the special emission standards.

Donald Trump was interviewed by Piers Morgan on UK TV News programme ‘Good Morning Britain’ boasting that the US has ‘crystal clean air’ and blamed pollution on China, India and Russia. He referenced the poor air and water quality of cities in theses countries.

Donald Trump has had a candid conversation with Prince Charles regarding climate change. Trump pushed back on the suggestion that the US should do more and referenced China alongside India, Russia, as countries who have poor air and water qualities. He said that “if you go to certain cities … you can’t even breathe, and now that air is going up”.

This article is a case study which showcases the deathly health consequences heavy air pollution has on humans. This particular example is set in South Korea, where many experts are blaming China and its high level of pollution, which is seemingly sweeping into South Korea and affecting their air quality and inhabitants’ health.

The Guardian has published an article regarding the new trial in which Waitrose has rolled out to cut back on the use of plastic. The article mentions that since China stopped accepting UK waste, on the basis that it was contaminated, there have been reports of fraud and abuses including illegal dumping, all with harmful impacts on wildlife.