By Paul Davies and Andrew Westgate
In advance of the first ever G20 summit to be hosted in China this year, the Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau issued a revised, short-term air quality plan to improve local air conditions ahead of the summit. China has undertaken similar efforts to achieve a temporary smog lift in advance of other high profile events such as the Olympics in 2008, the Shanghai World’s Fair in 2010 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2014 – during which the rare blue skies experienced were referred to as “APEC blue.”
The G20 summit will be held September in Hangzhou, a city situated 150 miles south-west of Shanghai. As China’s largest city, and a city with significant construction, operational and residential emissions, Shanghai impacts upon the air quality of its neighbouring cities, including Hangzhou.