Ecology: full throttle in Beijing. Well, almost...

The famous annual average concentration of PM2.5, the fine particles known to damage the lungs and cause cancer, has finally fallen. While it was still 100 microgrammes per m³ of air in 2009, it was reduced to 57 micrograms in 2017.Enormous progress, but not yet nirvana according to the WHO, which recommends not exceeding the 10 microgram threshold. However, billions of yuan were spent following the launch in 2013 of the Beijing Ecological Plan, which aimed to reduce pollution and appease the growing anger of the affluent middle class, who are now concerned about their health. The programme includes the closure of 2,000 factories, including cement works, coal-fired power stations and other heavy industries that are partly responsible for Beijing's infamous smog. Another measure is to switch residential buildings from coal to gas or electricity for heating.

The effects on the environment have been positive, even if this has led to population displacement, with some residents unable to afford the increased costs generated by these changes. Nevertheless, things are moving again, and fast. The new rules include the introduction of quotas. Depending on the size of your flat, you are allocated a monthly quantity of electricity, beyond which prices soar. So either you turn off the lights, or you pay. Radical, effective. That's the way things are going in Beijing, usually by the scruff of the neck.

Electric vehicles

And that's not all. The capital has already managed to eliminate more than two million polluting vehicles over the last five years. While the practice of alternating driving according to registration number is still in use, it has now been extended to include restrictions on car purchases that come first. You have to wait up to two years to get a conventional vehicle, whereas an electric car can be bought in the blink of an eye, often with a small financial incentive. Chinese brands of hybrid vehicles are doing very well in the local market.

Bike-sharing is also booming. Gone are the stereotypes the Beijinger with the rickety bicycle and the Mao collar. These days, young hipsters connect by phone to Mobike or Ofo, two start-ups offering colourful bicycles that can be picked up and dropped off anywhere. You pay by the distance travelled, and ride in the back alleys. And, as Beijing is a flat city, there's hardly any risk of getting to the office out of breath.

These intensive efforts are not confined to the capital, with twenty-seven cities in northern China joining Beijing in a government-backed campaign. But while the closure of the region's factories is a tangible reality - Beijing rediscovered the "greening" of its economy this winter - it is also a tangible reality. the pleasure of blue skies and almost pure air -The reopening of certain units in more remote regions is another. "However, the standards for these new replacement plants are much stricter"says Yann Boquillod, founder of the start-up AirVisual. Pollute further, but pollute less? One thing is certain: the province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing and is often responsible for the smog that assails the capital, has also seen its PM2.5 concentrations fall. Although we are still a long way from the target of 35 microgrammes per m³...

Rejecting pollution, Beijing is also playing the transparency card, not hesitating to inform the population of risks and peaks with thirty-four monitors measuring air quality throughout the city. "By comparison, Paris has just three..."says Yann Boquillod. So is China really ahead of the game? We often forget that it is the world's leading producer of renewable energyChina is the champion of wind and solar power, with the development of the world's largest photovoltaic plant on the Tibetan plateau. According to Nathalie Bastianelli, founder of the Webelong platform for promoting sustainable development initiatives, the Chinese are much more advanced in this field than we might imagine. It was at the time of the January 2013 peak, when Beijing was in the fog, that it launched its first event, validated as Cop21, to combat global warming. "People living in China need to see that things are moving forward on the major issues of pollution and climate change, since seven million Chinese have already been displaced for these reasons."she says.

Great innovators, the Chinese are quick to put their ideas into practice. But who are they? Examples from Nathalie Bastianelli's guests: a Shanghai company that makes ten houses in 24 hours A Taiwanese start-up is making stone paper to avoid cutting down trees, while another is training chefs from top restaurants in vegan techniques to limit meat consumption. A major challenge when you consider that the Chinese account for 28 % of the world's meat consumption...".Four years ago, I was looking for pioneers in China. Today, there are pioneers everywhere, and some very poetic ones."says Nathalie Bastianelli. Like MaskBook, a Chinese artist who makes beautiful masks from everyday waste. And it won't be long before they spread to the industrial world.