China is promoting coal-fired power as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) tries to revive a sluggish economy, prompting warnings that Beijing is setting back efforts to cut climate-changing carbon emissions from the biggest global source.
Official plans call for boosting coal production capacity by 300 million tonnes this year, news reports have said.
That is equal to 7 percent of last year’s output of 4.1 billion tonnes, which was an increase of 5.7 percent from 2020.
Photo: AP
China is one of the biggest investors in wind and solar, but jittery leaders called for more coal-fired power after economic growth plunged last year and shortages caused blackouts and factory shutdowns. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine added to anxiety that foreign oil and coal supplies might be disrupted.
“This mentality of ensuring energy security has become dominant, trumping carbon neutrality,” said Li Shuo (李碩), a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace. “We are moving into a relatively unfavorable time period for climate action in China.”
Officials are facing political pressure to ensure stability as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is preparing to try to break with tradition and award himself a third five-year term as CCP leader in the autumn.
Coal is important for “energy security,” Cabinet officials said at a meeting on Wednesday, where they approved plans to expand production capacity, business news magazine Caixin reported.
The CCP is also building power plants to inject money into the economy and revive growth that sank to 4 percent in the final quarter of last year, down from the full year’s 8.1 percent expansion.
The CCP has rejected binding emissions commitments, citing its economic development needs, and Beijing has avoided joining governments that promised to phase out use of coal-fired power.
In a 2020 speech to the UN, Xi said China’s carbon emissions would peak by 2030, but he announced no target for the amount.
China aims for carbon neutrality by 2060, Xi said.
China accounts for 26.1 percent of global emissions, more than double the US’ share of 12.8 percent, the World Resources Institute has said.
China emits more than all developed economies combined, research firm Rhodium Group has said.
China’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2060 appears to be on track, but using more coal “could jeopardize this, or at least slow it down and make it more costly,” Clare Perry, ocean and climate campaign leader at the Environmental Investigations Agency said in an e-mail.
Promoting coal would make emissions “much higher than they need to be” by the 2030 peak year, Perry said. “This move runs entirely counter to the science.”
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS