Green Environment

After seven years of preparation, Beijing is confident of honoring its Green Olympic commitment with the support of Chinese people and the international community, said Liu Qi, head of the BOCOG, earlier this week, adding the city had put an emphasis on controlling air pollution and promoting landscape greening.

With exactly 10 days to go before the Beijing Games opens on Aug. 8, the organizers still face a daunting challenge -- the weather. A whole week of hot and humid weather with no rainfall and a persistent haze dampened people's mood and undermined a newly-built confidence in the city's air quality.

IOC's Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli said the low visibility doesn't necessarily mean the air quality is bad.

"Most of the people see the fog, they say it's pollution. But we know here it's not pollution. It's mist, a fact of the nature," Felli added.

In the final month before the Games, Beijing sealed off two thirds of government vehicles, and imposed a traffic ban on private cars ending with odd and even number plates on alternate days as of July 20. The policy cut the number of cars hitting Beijing roads every day by about two million.

Other pre-Games environment measures included closing polluting factories in Beijing and some neighboring provinces, suspension of most urban construction projects, and removal of vehicles failing to meet emission standards. The most significant step over the years, however, was a thorough relocation of the gigantic Capital Steel company which used to occupy a large area in western Beijing.

Green Consciousness

Beijing Olympic organizers established a special room in the Olympic Village, for the first time in Olympiad, to raise green consciousness, where pamphlets and leaflets are available and documentaries on environment protection are played on TV.

Meanwhile, volunteers for the Games are encouraged to take buses and subways to their workplaces, instead of driving cars; to turn off the screen while the computer is on standby, and to write on both sides of the paper.

Both the location of Olympic stadiums and the selection of competition routes have avoided important water resource conservation areas and natural reserves.

China has intensified its efforts to raise "green consciousness" before the Olympic Games. At a recent energy-saving work meeting, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said it was necessary to further raise environmental protection consciousness among the public and step up efforts to build an energy-saving and environment-friendly society.

He urged the capital city to do more to save oil and energy to provide a cleaner environment and fresher air for citizens and visitors.

Since June 1, all Chinese retailers have been banned to provide free plastic shopping bags, as the nation tries to reduce energy consumption and polluting emissions by using less plastic bags.

Various activities were launched across the country during the 18th annual publicity week on energy saving, which falls in mid-June, to raise public awareness or share and promote energy-saving practices.

In Beijing, residents were urged to buy energy-saving bulbs at a 90-percent discount. In Hefei, more than 10,000 people showed up to sign their names on a banner in support of the energy-saving efforts. In Shanghai, lectures, demonstrations, consulting services were staged in residential areas.

All efforts relating to the promotion of "Green Olympics" will leave a precious heritage for Beijing when the Games are over, said Tan Xuxiang.

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2008)