China anti-pollution efforts

China’s Li Swaps Steel Production for Cleaner Air: Commodities
By Bloomberg News Apr 11, 2014; http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-11/china-s-li-swaps-steel-production-for-cleaner-air-commodities.html
China’s slowing economy and tougher government anti-pollution efforts are taking a toll on its steel mills, rattling the world’s biggest producer of the alloy and flashing worries of a potential downturn in the global iron-ore trade.

Contesting regulations

Indonesia's proposed peat law too weak to protect peatlands, stop haze, says Greenpeace; Mongabay.com; http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0314-peat-regulation-greenpeace.html
It also doesn't protect peat in existing concessions or mandate better water management in areas already converted for oil palm and timber plantations ...

SE Asian peatsmog haze

Indonesia's forest fires feed 'brown cloud' of pollution choking Asia's cities; An acrid blanket of haze is hanging over the cities of south-east Asia, where 700,000 people a year die prematurely from the effects of air pollution. Industry and climate change are being blamed, but governments are slow to act; The Observer, Saturday 22 March 2014 http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/23/indonesia-forest-fires-pollution-asia

China environmental issues

China Wakes Up to Its Environmental Catastrophe. Cleaning up the environment is an urgent task for China's leaders, who face a backlash from enraged citizens; http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c/1168803/60398984a45ac407/46

Europe air pollution. Economist.com. Charlemagne. Paris in the smog. As a cloud of pollution descends, the government bans cars with even-numbered plates from entering the capital

Traveling to Beijing? Have You Considered Smog Insurance? China's leading travel company, Ctrip, teams up with a top insurer to offer "haze insurance," which pays out if the air quality is particularly horrible. http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c/1170105/60398984a45ac407/7

 

 

Air Pollution May Cause Genetic Harm in Kids, China Study Finds; By Bloomberg News Mar 20, 2014; Air pollution led to genetic changes that may have sapped learning skills in children whose mothers were exposed to a Chinese coal-fired power plant before it was shuttered a decade ago, researchers found.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-19/air-pollution-may-cause-genetic-harm-in-kids-china-study-finds.html

China working on uranium-free nuclear plants in attempt to combat smog; Beijing brings forward deadline for world's first thorium-fuelled facility in attempt to break reliance on fossil fuels; theguardian.com, Wednesday 19 March 2014; http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/china-uranium-nuclear-plants-smog-thorium

Panasonic to pay expat workers in China pollution compensation

An interesting precedent on extra premium for expats working in China due to air pollution problem; "Japanese electronics company describes payments as 'premium for expatriates to compensate for different living environment..." http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/13/panasonic-pay-pollution-expatriate-workers-china