Assessing the premature death due to ambient particulate matter in China＇s urban areas from 2004 to 2013

The Environmental Burden of Disease （EBD） approach for outdoor air pollution has been used to calculate premature deaths and average potential years of life lost attributable to air pollution in China over the past 10 years with differences between the North and the South of the country being analyzed.The results indicate that： （1） Between 2004 and 2013, annual premature deaths attributable to outdoor air pollution in China ranged from 350000 to 520000. In 2013, deaths resulting from air pollution in China represented 9.9% of the country＇s total deaths. （2） In 2004, the average life expectancy of the Chinese population and the number of potential years of life lost （PYLL） attributable to air pollutionwas 69.6 and 1.85 years respectively as compared to 74.4 and 0.67 years respectively in 2013. （3） The number of the PYLL attributable to air pollution in the northern regions of China is found to be larger than that of the southern regions. The PYLL figures of the northern and southern regions in 2004 were 2.3 and 1.8 years, respectively, with a difference of 0.5 years, as compared to 1.4 and 0.7 years respectively with a difference of 0.7 years in 2013.

Cost-benefit analysis of China’s Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control

China’s rapid economic growth has caused severe air pollution and public health problems.Therefore,the Chinese government launched the Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control(hereinafter referred to as the“Air Plan”)in 2013-2017 to improve air quality and safeguard public health.In this study,an analytical framework for a cost-benefit analysis applicable to China was constructed,and the costs and benefits of the implementation of the“Air Plan”in 30 cities and provinces in China from 2013 to 2017 were evaluated.Results show that the total cost of implementation of the“Air Plan”is 1.6511 trillion RMB.The benefits of air quality improvement were determined to be 2.4691 trillion RMB through the willingness-to-pay method to calculate the economic loss of premature deaths.The net benefit related to the implementation of the“Air Plan”was 818 billion RMB.The public health benefit of air quality improvement was 1.5 times the cost of the nationwide implementation of the“Air Plan”.At the provincial level,net benefits that reach 279.3 billion RMB were the highest in Guangdong,whereas the benefit-cost ratio,where the benefit was 5.5 times the cost,was the highest in Fujian.Estimations in this study can serve as a reference for China in formulating similar environmental policies and implementing the “3-year Plan to Defend the Blue Sky”.In addition,these estimations have practical significance for advancing the long-term effective mechanisms of the cost-benefit analysis of China5s environmental policies.

An assessment of the potential health benefits of realizing the goals for PMlo in the updated Chinese Ambient Air Quality Standard

As a response to the severe air quality problems in China, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2012 issued an updated Ambient Air Quality Standard （GB3095-2012）, which set a stricter grade II PMI0 standard. A successful implementation of this standard will have an impact on human health through reduction of exposure to air pollution in the population. Using the methods of adjusted human capital and value of statistical life, the authors in this article estimate the economic impact of a successful implementation of the updated Ambient Air Quality Standard on human health in China. The key results are： 1） The human health benefits from reaching the updated standard for PM10 would equal CNY 51.1 billion using adjusted human capital, account- ing for 18.5% of total human health costs in China, and CNY 83.5 billion using the value of a statistical life; 2） the benefit of reaching the updated standard for PM10 is highest in the east coastal areas and gradually declines for more Western provinces; and 3） the marginal benefit of public health increases as the environmental quality standard PMl0 improves. If the annual concentration of PMlo were to be reduced from the target number in the original grade II standard to that in the updated standard, the mortality rate of long-term exposure would be reduced by 6.5% due to reduced chronic exposure. In addition, if the annual concentration were to be reduced further from updated grade II to grade I standard, the mortality rate for long-term exposure would be lowered by 32.8%.

The valuation of China’s environmental degradation from 2004 to 2017

This paper aims to evaluate the cost of environmental degradation by adopting the conventional environmental economic methodology in China from 2004 to 2017 and summarize the change in both the causes and costs of China’s environmental degradation.Results from this study revealed the following:i.The environmental degradation cost in China increased from 511 billion yuan to 1,892 billion yuan from 2004 to 2017,and its share in the GDP decreased from 3.05% to 2.23%;ii.The environmental degradation cost growth rate was lower than the GDP growth rate.The environmental degradation cost growth rate decreased sharply,by dropping from 10% in 2014 to 2% in 2017.The environmental benefits of industrial transformation have emerged;iii.The provinces of Shandong,Hebei,Jiangsu,Henan,and Guangdong had the highest environmental degradation costs.The annual average growth rate of the environmental degradation costs in Jiangsu,Guangdong,and Zhejiang were lower than their growth rate of the GDP respectively;iv.Consideration of environmental degradation cost in decision-making could contribute to the high-quality development of China.