Posted for David Cyranoski

A big thumbs up for the Beijing Olympics. That was the conclusion of a Final Environmental Assessment released by the United Nations Environmental Programme on February 18 during its Governing Council Meeting in Nairobi (February 16-20).

For a city whose visitors have, over the past decade, rarely left without complaining about the air, it is quite an accomplishment.

China had made big promises ahead of the Olympics.

The committee of independent assessors who compiled the report said that China had “raised the environmental bar” with an investment of US$17 billion in twenty “environmental commitments.”

They credited China for pretty much the whole gamut of green initiatives including a reduction in air pollution, an overhaul of the public transport system, promotion of renewable energy, upgrading the waste system, phasing out hydrochlorofluorocarbons, expanding hazardous and medical waste treatment facilities, and covering 8800 hectares of Beijing (the patches left by Olympic hotel developments) with 30 million trees and rose bushes and other green things. Perhaps most importantly, the Beijing Olympics has left a legacy of environmental awareness that has changed the way people think.

Still the picture might a little hazier. The UNEP assessors relied on Beijing’s statistics for, for example, counting Beijing’s “blue sky days” but some will still wonder how much of that is a matter of selective data gathering. China’s data looks good, but it’s still not clear whether China has figured out how to make that data match reality.

And the government still doesn’t seem ready to open itself up to criticism on this point. The one thing the report faulted Beijing for: not listening to non-governmental organizations.

Photo: Beijing smog by kevindooley via Flickr under creative commons.