China has increased spending on coal to cope with harsh weather, a domestic energy crisis and skyrocketing global fuel prices, raising fears that Beijing’s policies could hinder the fight against climate change.
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and President Xi Jinping has pledged to cut coal use from 2026 as part of a wide range of climate pledges.
Beijing has committed to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
China’s total carbon emissions have declined due to the economic downturn, according to Carbon Brief’s climate monitoring study in early September.
But at the same time, the slowdown in economic growth has led the authorities to rely on chimneys in an attempt to stimulate the economy.
The need to subsidize coal, which still makes up the bulk of China’s energy supply, has alarmed analysts, who warn that it will make a possible transition to a renewable-dominated energy mix more difficult.
Fearing a power shortage last fall, Chinese authorities in the spring ordered coal producers to add 300 million tons of mining capacity this year, the equivalent of an extra month of coal production in the country.
And in the first quarter of 2022 alone, regulators approved the equivalent of half the capacity of the all-coal power plant that was approved in 2021, according to Greenpeace.
In addition, authorities have been burning and mining more coal in recent weeks to meet rising demand for air conditioning and offset the reduction of hydroelectric dams during China’s hottest summer.
Prime Minister Li Keqiang called in June to “release advanced coal energy as much as possible and ensure long-term coal supply.”
Source: AFP.