OpinionAs China builds more coal-fired power plants, are climate goals going up in smoke?

Name: China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage
Uploaded: 2023-02-28T12:30:09.000Z
Duration: 1 min 42 s
Description: China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage

China last year approved the largest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, a study has found

Without public oversight or media scrutiny, China’s stated climate goals appear increasingly at risk as energy security concerns mount

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Coal-fired power plants under construction in China in 2022 alone were six times that in the rest of the world combined, a study published this week says. Photo: AFP

Shi Jiangtao

Published: 8:30pm, 28 Feb 2023Updated: 6:33pm, 2 Mar 2023

Without the security of China, world security would not be possible, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang declared last week.

The same also holds true for global efforts to tackle the climate crisis, which would fail if the world’s biggest polluter is unable to deliver on its zero carbon goals, including phasing out the use of dirty coal.

China last year approved the largest expansion of coal-fired power plants since 2015, a new study released this week found.

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) in Finland and the Global Energy Monitor (GEM), the capacity of Chinese plants under construction in 2022 alone was six times that in the rest of the world combined.

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China increases coal production to ensure winter supplies, easing energy shortage

The push to expand coal-fired power plants, in a country that already produces more carbon emissions than the United States and the European Union combined, is deeply worrying. It has yet again underpinned China’s excessive dependence on the fossil fuel and inevitably raised doubts over Beijing’s ability to honour its own commitment to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2060.