In his Congress speech, Xi Jinping mentioned “environment” 89 times, compared to 70 mentions of “economy.”  Yet outside, the air pollution across Beijing continued to worsen as the city experienced its first “very unhealthy” episode of the winter. In this FCCC presentation, Greenpeace East Asia energy analyst, Lauri Myllyvirta, will map the trends in air pollution levels in China – where is air quality improving, where is it not and why? He will ask why pollution is persistantly so bad around Beijing – what are the sources to explain it and the solutions to deal with it? And what are the implications of this winter’s ambitious action plan, including the biggest factory shutdown in history, for air quality and for energy. Will it work and for how long?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Lauri Myllyvirta is Greenpeace East Asia energy analyst. He has worked for the past five years as an energy analyst covering coal consumption and air pollution issues across Asia. Currently based out of Beijing, his research covers China’s coal consumption and CO2 trends, sources of air pollution as well as the overcapacity situation in coal-fired power and steel industry. Lauri has also published studies on the health impacts of coal-fired power generation in Southeast, South and East Asia, Europe, Turkey and South Africa. He has degrees in economics from Helsinki University and in environmental science from University of Jyvaskyla.

Location to be confirmed.

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