In February, the Chinese government admitted that the country did not achieve its emission reduction goals in 2006. As part of a long-range plan to lower chemical oxygen demand (COD) and sulfur dioxide emissions by 10% from 2006 to 2010, the goal for 2006 was to lower COD and sulfur dioxide emissions by 2%. But, according to the State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), sulfur dioxide emissions increased by almost 463,000 tons, or 1.8%, and COD rose by 173,000 tons, or 1.2%. Two major factors cited by SEPA were the 230 million ton increase in coal consumption—coal burning yielded 2.8 million tons of sulfur in 2006—and a 20% increase in the production of paper goods, a major source of COD. In 2007, China will attempt to lower sulfur dioxide emissions and COD by 3.2 million tons and 1.2 million tons, respectively. China’s soaring economic growth, however, is interfering with its environmental efforts: a report by a SEPA experts’ group predicts that if China’s economy grows by 9% this year, sulfur dioxide emissions will increase by 2.4 million tons and COD will increase by 0.9 million tons.

Source: China Daily