The 2022 Winter Olympics are just two months away and the Beijing Organizing Committee, as well as the Beijing and Zhangjiakou municipal governments, say preparation work has entered a critical period. They say they have listed nearly 3,000 specific preparation tasks for next year's games. Each comes with clear responsibilities, time-frames and targets, and so far their work is going smoothly according to plan. Among all the work, safety and sustainability are two of the most important target areas. In terms of safety, the Beijing Organizing Committee has devised a comprehensive coronavirus control plan, after thorough discussion with the International Olympic Committee. "On October 25, Beijing 2022 released the first version of the Coronavirus Control Handbook together with the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee. It highlighted measures such as simplifying events, vaccination, closed loop management, and the integration of virus prevention and virus control," Yang Cheng, executive director general of the Beijing 2022 Main Operation Center, said during a press conference on Friday. Aside from COVID-19 control measures, the committee has issued guidelines to support medical care, designating 41 health facilities to treat injured and sick athletes. It has established an international ski rescue team and arranged a fleet of helicopters for emergency rescue. The committee has also been working on lowering carbon emissions and using resources more sustainably. The use of artificial snow has been questioned by some on environmental grounds, but officials insist the snow will be made in an eco-friendly and cost-effective way. "We first considered the use of collected and stored natural precipitation to make snow. Precipitation in Yanqing is abundant, especially this year. In addition to natural precipitation, the water needed for snow making is provided by reservoirs in the region. According to statistics, the water needed during the Winter Olympics only accounts for 1.6 percent of the current water consumption in Yanqing," Yu Bo, chief of Yanqing District under Beijing Municipality. The organizing committee said they will continue to use test events and training weeks to test all elements of the preparation work, and they hope they can deliver green, safe and cost-effective Olympics on time. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：December 3, 2021

With the Beijing Winter Olympics less than 70 days away, the organizing committee has implemented an overall environmental sustainability plan ahead of the games. Ecological protection, urban landscaping, and air quality control are part of the city's effort to host a green Olympics. Bi Ran has more. Sustainability has been one of the pillars of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The organizing committee implemented measures in three major game zones, including urban greening, construction waste management, eco-material use, and natural environment protection. GAO DAWEI Deputy Director, Beijing Forestry and Parks Bureau "Two hundred and fifty-one hectares of green space were built in game venues and along roads connecting game zones. Beijing is setting up large scale greening, featuring broadleaf plants downtown. Over ten types of Olympics-themed flower beds were planted as well." To deliver a greener Beijing for the Games, the construction of sport venues also incorporates sustainable ideas. BI RAN Beijing "The design of the winter sport venues factored in environmental concerns. Biodiversity protection, hourly air quality monitoring, and vegetation protection work were prioritized during construction due to proximity to mountains and rivers." DING SHENG Manger, Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development "The national speed skating oval applies carbon dioxide transcritical direct ice-making tech, making carbon emissions close to zero. Wind and solar energy will be transferred to game zones, providing sufficient clean energy supply." So far, Beijing's organizing committee has entered the final stage of ecological construction and security evaluation. Bi Ran, CGTN, Beijing. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：November 30, 2021

Stabilizing energy supply and striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is not contradictory, a Chinese expert said, as the government tries to meet a rising demand for heating in the winter season.  This year, cold snaps have enveloped several parts of China earlier than expected, forcing some northern provinces and cities to start providing heating earlier than planned. To meet the demand, China's top economic planner has increased the production and allocation of natural gas from the reserves.  "We had come up with measures before the arrival of the first cold snap. So there has been a stable coal supply since the cold snaps, and coal production has seen a rapid rebound," said Meng Wei, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in a press conference on Friday morning.  "As the coal production and market supply continue to rise, its supply to and storage in power plants will continue to accumulate, so coal supply for this winter can be guaranteed."   When many regions started heating since November 7, natural gas supplies on a daily basis rose to 1 billion cubic meters in China, up by 100 million cubic meters from a year ago, according to Meng.  Coal supplies rose by 4 percent on a yearly basis in October, while coal output has been rising since November. Coal supply has been outnumbering coal consumption by power plants since late October, Meng said. The price of coal futures in the Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange has continued to fall since mid-October.   It dropped a total of 59 percent to 809.6 yuan ($126.7) per tonne on November 15 from the peak price of 1,982 yuan per tonne on October 19. The 5,500 Kcal/kg thermal coal was traded in the port city of Qinhuangdao at 1,095 yuan per tonne on November 15, down about 1,000 yuan per tonne from the price on October 19.   Lin Boqiang, professor of the Center of China Energy Economics Research of Xiamen University, said the measures taken to stabilize coal prices are effective. He said apart from encouraging coal production, China has also pushed forward the largest reform in policies. The country now doesn't limit coal price's fluctuations for energy-intensive industries, which account for 50 percent of the country's power consumption, he said. On November 17, the executive meeting of State Council announced that China would set aside 200 billion yuan as special re-loaning facility to support the use of clean coal.  In the short run, coal is still the major source of China's energy consumption, but with the same quantity of coal, China can still reduce common emissions, said Lin, adding that that's what the 200 billion fund is for.  Lin added that from the medium to longer term, China will still push very hard to increase and production and use of renewable energies. Coal use has to be reduced eventually until 2060 which is the time set in China for achieving the goal of carbon neutrality.  Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：November 24, 2021

China's installed capacity of renewable energy power generation reached 1 billion kilowatts (kWs) by the end of October, accounting for 43.5 percent of the total installation, data from the National Energy Administration (NEA) showed Saturday. The 1 billion-kW threshold doubled the figure at the end of 2015, the NEA said. The installed hydropower capacity stood at 385 million kWs, and the installed wind power capacity surged 30.4 percent year on year to 299 million kWs while solar power capacity rose 23.7 percent to 282 million kWs, data showed. China aims to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. The country is promoting green and clean energy amid its transition to a low-carbon economy. In July, a national carbon market started online trading with 2,162 power generation companies taking part. On November 8, the People's Bank of China said it had provided low-cost loans for financial institutions through a carbon-reduction supporting tool, with a one-year lending rate of 1.75 percent. On November 17, the country said it will put in place a 200 billion yuan ($31.32 billion) targeted relending program to support the clean and efficient use of coal. The proportion of coal in China's total energy consumption dropped from 72.4 percent in 2005 to 56.8 percent in 2020, according to a white paper on the country's low-carbon policy. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：November 21, 2021

China's representative at COP 26 has set out what the world's second largest economy is doing to fight climate change. Xie Zhenhua, Chinese president Xi Jinping's special representative on climate change, was speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the COP 26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. Talks and cooperation China is in constant talks with global powerhouses including the U.S. and the European Union, to develop cooperative collaboration. Xie says he has spoken with U.S. presidential representative for climate change John Kerry 27 times this year - discussions that culminated in a joint statement to outline actions needed to address climate change. In addition, China has established a high-level dialogue on environment and dialogue with the EU. The two sides agreed on deepening green cooperation following a meeting between China's Vice Premier Han Zheng and European Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans. Xie noted that cooperation between China and the U.S. and the EU are mainly in the areas of saving energy, improving energy efficiency, renewable energy, reducing energy consumption, and grid stability. China's own actions China has set a goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.  China's renewable energy investments have topped world rankings for eight consecutive years. Energy efficiency is also improving its carbon intensity. The amount of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP dropped by 48.4% in 2020 compared with 2005.  More than half of the world's renewable energy vehicles are in China, and the country has committed not to fund new overseas coal power plant projects. China will firmly stay committed to a green and low-carbon path to development, make coordinated efforts to reduce pollution and carbon emissions and actively explore new, low-carbon models of development. Source：CGTN Author：CGTN Date：November 02, 2021