China’s booming coal projects threaten its ambition to peak carbon emissions by 2030, according to a report from the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor in the US.
China is the second-largest economy globally. The country is also the biggest emitter of the greenhouse gases responsible for climate change. But China has made substantial strides in clean energy projects in recent years.
China plans to reach net zero by 2060. Coal has been an important source of energy in China for decades. But the sizeable increase in clean energy installations in recent years has raised hopes that the country can actually abandon the dirty fossil fuel for good.
Coal production has increased steadily in recent years. The rise comes despite a pledge by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2021 to strictly control coal projects and increases in coal consumption before reducing it in the period from 2026 to 2030.
