The Asian Development bank has approved its first policy-based loan of 300 million U.S. dollars to China to help address air pollution problem in Beijing.
Part of the loan will also go to air pollution control programs in Tianjin municipality and Hebei province, both neighboring Beijing, said the bank on Thursday.
The loan accompanies expected cofinancing from KfW development bank of 150 million euros in support of the estimated expenditure of the Hebei Clean Air Action Plan 2015-2016 of 4.8 billion U.S. dollars in Hebei Province.
Based on the bank's estimates, the policy actions will help reduce Hebei's annual coal consumption by about 12.4 million tons, representing about 4 percent of the province's total coal consumption in 2012.
They will also help cut air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions substantially, with carbon dioxide emissions alone reduced by 18 million tons a year against 2012 levels.
