Transport emissions in Beijing: A scenario planning approach

This paper explores and analyses how to reduce smog-related air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions generated by passenger transport systems in Beijing. In-depth surveys with experts and practitioners in China are used to examine the current business-as-usual projection for emissions in Beijing, the drivers and trends affecting current projections, and to develop alternative scenarios that might help reduce projected emissions significantly. These are based around different variants of population and migration growth and environmental stewardship. Current levels of smog caused by transport emissions are much higher in Beijing than internationally accepted safety standards, partly because of high levels of motorised traffic. Carbon dioxide emissions always tend to be overlooked because economic growth is prioritised. The sustainable model represents one of the best models for Beijing to follow; however, Beijing faces major challenges in becoming more environmentally sustainable over the next few years, mainly due to population growth and increased migration, even if there is powerful top-down government environmental stewardship. The aspiration to reduce smog-related air pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions in Beijing by implementing sustainable transport mitigation measures seems very ambitious; however, it is perhaps in this context that the real innovations in transport planning will emerge

Scenario analysis of tourism's water footprint for China's Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in 2020: implications for water policy

Based on the life cycle footprint analysis method, this paper undertakes a comprehensive assessment of tourism-related direct and indirect water consumption under four counterfactual tourism scenarios in China's Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei metropolitan region (Jing-Jin-Ji), which has been increasingly constrained by extreme water stress. Food consumption appears to have a major impact on the tourism water footprint (WF) such that high calorie-dominated diets are nearly five times more water intensive than vegetable diets for a typical foreign tourist. It is necessary to design specific policy to improve water-use efficiency in upstream agricultural production, in parallel with reduced high-calorie food intake in tourism products supply. Furthermore, transport mode is found to have significant impacts on domestic tourist WF due to the stark variation in water embodied in upstream fuel production and supply. Forecasts for tourism's WF under low and high scenarios suggest that tourism may account for a considerable proportion of total water use in Jing-Jin-Jiby 2020. Specifically, tourism patterns appear to be a determining factor influencing water consumption across different scenarios. It is argued that water policy needs to emphasise water-use efficiency to raise awareness of tourist WF by differentiating water prices for various purposes and segments of the tourism consumer market