Bangkok: The PM 2.5 dust pollution situation is a major and urgent problem in Thailand at the moment. Many parties are looking for solutions by focusing on the source of the dust.
According to Thai News Agency, in 1999, 92% of the world’s population was exposed to PM2.5 at concentrations higher than the WHO recommends. If governments do not seriously address the problem within the next 7 years, or by 2030, the quality of life of people around the world will be extremely poor, as the amount of PM2.5 will increase by 50%.
And the country that can prove to be an example that if the government is serious and puts in all its effort, it will definitely be able to eliminate the toxic smog problem is China. China used to kill millions of people a year due to air pollution, but now even the World Bank is praising China as a model for its efforts, successfully turning the cloudy skies caused by PM2.5 back to clear skies.
Mao Zedong’s efforts to transform an agricultural society into an industrial society led to an exponential increase in the number of factories in China by 1959. Of course, the Chinese leader’s economic policies helped lift millions of Chinese out of poverty, but at the cost of their lives and health. The toxic fumes from factories caused PM2.5 dust to rise to unbearable levels. By the time the government realized that the problem had reached a critical level, no less than 1 million people died each year from toxic dust.
In 2013, the Chinese government began and accelerated the war against toxic dust seriously with the Action Plan to Eliminate Air Pollution, which is considered a strong and effective medicine. It ordered the closure of coal mines, banned the construction of new coal-fired power plants, limited the number of private cars, promoted the use of electric cars, and most importantly, invested a budget of hundreds of billions of dollars to create forests and plant 35 billion trees in 12 provinces, which are industrial provinces.
Meanwhile, technology has been put to use, with the establishment of an integrated air quality monitoring network in 2016, installing more than 1,000 high-quality sensors across Beijing, enabling precise identification of areas and times where PM2.5 levels are highest. The Chinese government also has incentives to encourage people to do their part in creating clean air, such as subsidizing people to buy new cars and disposing of old vehicles, such as trucks, buses, and private cars, which are the main culprits of smog emissions. It also gives special privileges to new energy vehicles.
In just four years, China has been able to reduce the amount of PM2.5 in the atmosphere dramatically. In Beijing alone, the amount of toxic dust has fallen by 33%. A Chinese government work report submitted to the National People’s Congress on March 5, 2023, said that between 2012 and 2021, the amount of PM2.5 in China fell by 57%. In 2022, China had 280 days of good air quality, clear skies, and no PM2.5.
Most recently, it was reported that in 2024, Beijing had good air quality for 290 days, equivalent to 80% of the year, and there were 19 more days of better air quality than last year, with PM2.5 dust at only 30.5 micrograms per cubic meter. This success was possible because the Beijing government continued to implement the “One Microgram” policy to control air pollution. One Microgram means counting the amount of reduction in toxic dust emissions of every 1 microgram.
This success is not limited to Beijing alone. In collaboration with neighboring areas, coordinated measures and policies have been implemented and have been widely expanded. The dedication of the Chinese government has been praised by the World Bank as an example of an effort that has successfully turned cloudy skies caused by PM2.5 dust back into clear skies.