BEIJING (AFP) - The United Nations gave the thumbs-up Thursday to Beijing's efforts to improve its environment ahead of next year's Olympics but said poor air quality would remain a worry for athletes during the Games.
A UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report released 10 months before the August 8-24 Summer Olympics congratulated Beijing on a 12-billion-dollar clean-up under way since it won the right to host the Games in 2001.
Beijing, which pledged to stage a "green" Olympics by accomplishing 20 targets related to improving the environment, had already achieved most of them, said Eric Falt, the UNEP's sport and environment programme director.
But Falt said Beijing would be unable to resolve the biggest environmental concern -- poor air quality -- in time for the Games.
"Improvements in air quality cannot be achieved in a short period of time," he told a press conference.
"Air quality, therefore, remains a legitimate concern for the competitors and the observers, and for the citizens of Beijing themselves."
The industrial haze that regularly blankets Beijing has been a major concern and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said in August that events may have to be postponed if the health of athletes was at risk.
The UNEP report said Beijing had taken steps to improve air quality by moving major polluting industries out of the city, replacing coal-fired energy with cleaner fuels such as gas and raising vehicle emission standards.
But levels of particulate matter (PM 10) -- small air-borne particles that can worsen asthma, affect lung function and cause bronchitis -- have been worsening, mostly due to the ever-rising number of cars on Beijing's streets.
There are now more than three million vehicles in Beijing, and that number is rising by an astonishing 1,200 a day.
"Levels of PM 10 remain well above the World Health Organisation air quality guidelines, sometimes by 200 percent or more," said Falt.
Chinese officials maintain, however, that they will have no problem guaranteeing good air quality during the short Olympic period.
Beijing banned more than one million cars from the streets for four days in August to improve air quality and reduce traffic congestion.
The experiment was considered a success and a similar plan would be adopted during the Games, officials have said.
"For the short period of the Games, air quality will be fine. Our challenge is curbing pollution over the long term," said Sarah Liao, Hong Kong's former environment secretary who is an adviser to the Beijing Olympic organising committee.
The report was unveiled ahead of the opening later on Thursday in Beijing of the world conference on sport and the environment attended by Rogge.
Working with the UNEP, the IOC has linked the Olympics Games to improving the environment since 1994.
In April the UNEP named the IOC and Rogge along with Nobel laureate Al Gore among a list of "Champions of the Earth" for their work in improving the environment.
