Many cities in developing countries face environmental crises due to severe air pollution. Deteriorating air quality is a result of rapid industrial development, increasing motor vehicle traffic, population growth, and general economic expansion. Impacts of air pollution are severe and well-known adverse health effects and increasing health costs,decreased visibility, damage to natural vegetation and agriculture, and deterioration of cultural monuments and buildings.As developing countries industrialize, their emissions of greenhouse gases also increase.

China is a vast country undergoing rapid industrialization, possessing an enormous and increasing population, and suffering from severe air pollution particularly in urban areas. It currently contributes about 15 percent of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere annually from human activity. Carbon dioxide is the primary greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. The share of carbon dioxide that China will emit in the future will increase as it continues to develop and its population continues to grow. Since air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions both result from burning fossil fuels, China may see advantages in fuel switching, increased energy efficiency, and the use of renewable forms of energy to reduce local air pollution. Such changes could also limit the growth in greenhouse gas emissions.

Questions this task force will address include: What practical steps can China take in the coming decades to improve local air quality and lower the rate at which their carbon dioxide emissions are increasing? What energy technologies are appropriate to accomplish both objectives? How can the United States and multilateral lending organizations support these efforts?

The aim of this task force will be to develop co-control strategies that would improve air quality in China while limiting the rate of increase of their greenhouse gas emissions. These strategies will need to be attractive to China while also attracting bilateral and multilateral donors able to support their initial implementation. We will examine World Bank energy programs and the criticism the Bank has come under due to its early lack of attention to environmental issues in its loan practices. We will then recommend programs to the World Bank that it could implement to encourage the use of energy technologies that simultaneously reduce air pollution and carbon dioxide emissions in China.