https://www.scmp.com/rss/321766/feed The UN Paris climate summit, or COP21, is a conference at which it is hoped 195 countries will agree a plan of action to tackle climate change. This year the summit will, for the first time in over 20 years of UN negotiations, aim to achieve a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Millions are suffering in India’s relentless heatwave. The country experienced its hottest March in over a century. Temperatures went above 46 degrees Celsius last month, with northwest and central Indian seeing their hottest April in more than 120 years. Construction workers, vendors and workers in the informal sector have struggled to work in this unusually hot summer. Adding to the woes are the frequent power cuts as India faces its worst power crisis in years due to a shortage of coal as... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3178229/heatwave-and-coal-crisis-are-signs-india-should-speed-its?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3178229/heatwave-and-coal-crisis-are-signs-india-should-speed-its?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 May 2022 03:45:19 +0000 Climate cooperation between the United States and China is more fraught now than it was just months ago, due to deepening bilateral frictions that threaten to leave the world in “serious trouble”, Washington’s chief climate envoy warned on Wednesday. Cooperation on ways to limit climate change is “harder now because some of the differences of opinion between our countries have been hardened and sharpened, and that makes the diplomacy more complicated”, John Kerry, the US special presidential... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3174959/us-climate-chief-says-fraught-relations-china-spell-serious?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3174959/us-climate-chief-says-fraught-relations-china-spell-serious?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Apr 2022 17:42:45 +0000 Less than half of industrial companies in China have taken action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, despite most saying the scale of their current emissions will affect business prospects, according to a survey conducted by TUV Rheinland. While some 72 per cent of 650 respondents said they know the sources and scale of their greenhouse gas emissions, only 43 per cent have either set up a team or worked with third party professionals to tackle the issue, according to the Germany-based industry... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3173020/climate-change-few-chinese-manufacturers-have-plans-curb-emissions-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3173020/climate-change-few-chinese-manufacturers-have-plans-curb-emissions-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Apr 2022 01:30:09 +0000 Nearly 200 nations gather on Monday to confront a question that will outlive Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: how do we stop carbon pollution overheating the planet and threatening life as we know it? The answer is set to arrive on April 4 after closed-door, virtual negotiations approve the summary of a massive report detailing options for drawing down greenhouse gases and extracting them out of thin air. Global assets worth up to US$12.7 trillion exposed to climate risks, report says “The science... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3171060/200-nations-gather-un-report-lays-out-options-halt-climate-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3171060/200-nations-gather-un-report-lays-out-options-halt-climate-crisis?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:43:49 +0000 Few of the many challenges of tackling climate change are more important in the short term yet as seemingly impenetrable as China’s slow-moving phasing out of coal. In 2020, China commissioned more than five times the coal-fired electricity capacity of the rest of the world combined. China’s investment decisions will shape the global market for coal in the coming decades, putting substantial power over global climate change mitigation in the hands of a few actors. Burdened by chronic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170183/china-could-make-two-small-changes-dont-cost-earth-phase-out-coal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3170183/china-could-make-two-small-changes-dont-cost-earth-phase-out-coal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Mar 2022 14:15:09 +0000 While billions of people and ecosystems least able to cope are being hit hardest by climate change, trillions of dollars worth of assets will be exposed to risks from storms and rising sea levels in the future, scientists said. The world faces unavoidable climate hazards as global warming reaches 1.5 degrees Celsius within two decades from pre-industrial levels, they said in the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Monday. Human activities have already... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3168695/climate-change-global-assets-worth-us127-trillion-be-exposed-climate-risks?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3168695/climate-change-global-assets-worth-us127-trillion-be-exposed-climate-risks?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Feb 2022 11:00:24 +0000 They say every cloud has a silver lining. Since the rounding up of those who were part of the birthday party scandal, quarantine for close contacts has been reduced to 14 days. Is common sense finally beginning to prevail? Catching Covid-19 is not a criminal offence, but those deemed close contacts are being subjected to a mental endurance test. To shut people into a small room and not allow them to leave for a long period of time subjects them to a stressful ordeal, possibly leading to mental... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3163236/hong-kongs-covid-19-partygate-has-silver-lining?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3163236/hong-kongs-covid-19-partygate-has-silver-lining?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Jan 2022 06:30:28 +0000 Hong Kong’s current climate plan falls short of meeting its commitments under the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to a new NGO report, which also called on the city to ensure a fair transition to a low-carbon economy for the underprivileged. The “Paris Watch: Hong Kong Climate Action Report”, released by the NGO CarbonCare InnoLab on Thursday, gave the city’s performance on environmental issues over the past year a grade of “C minus”. Despite the government publishing several plans this year... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159985/hong-kong-not-living-its-climate-commitments?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3159985/hong-kong-not-living-its-climate-commitments?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Dec 2021 12:56:11 +0000 The world failed at last month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). And the biggest failure is one that virtually everybody assembled in Glasgow overlooked. The system in place to address climate change – comprising a constellation of economic, political and social arrangements – is inappropriate to our global goals. Consider an analogy: your neighbourhood is threatened by an approaching wildfire. Managing the crisis requires mobilising various emergency services, as well as help... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159612/meeting-global-climate-targets-requires-systemic-change-can-we-turn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159612/meeting-global-climate-targets-requires-systemic-change-can-we-turn?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Dec 2021 07:50:17 +0000 Life is extremely complicated and will only become more so. The just-completed Glasgow Conference of Parties (COP26) has generated many agreements but climate activist Greta Thunberg said: “There is a still a very, very long way to go.” Yet some agreement is better than nothing, even if the hard work is only just beginning. Leaders have to go home and start delivering their promises. That the United States and China (the two largest carbon emitters) agreed to work together on the 1.5 degree... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156532/move-masses-climate-action-we-need-really-good-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156532/move-masses-climate-action-we-need-really-good-story?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Nov 2021 06:30:22 +0000 The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference was the most successful climate summit since the 2015 Paris Climate Conference and reached a maximum consensus among nations, according to a senior adviser to the Chinese COP26 delegation. “Especially, it completed the negotiations on the Paris Rulebook and achieved good progress,” said Wang Yi, a climate specialist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, referring to the guidelines for how countries should implement the Paris Agreement. Wang said... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156557/cop26-chinese-climate-adviser-rates-glasgow-summit-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156557/cop26-chinese-climate-adviser-rates-glasgow-summit-success?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Nov 2021 00:00:21 +0000 This second instalment of a four-part series on the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow looks at coal, and why it is shunned by environmentalists as the “dirtiest” of all fossil fuels. Coal is the focus of discussions at the annual United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, as political and corporate leaders debate how to handle the most carbon-intensive of all fossil fuels in their fight against climate change. Over 40 countries – minus two of the three biggest... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3155543/cop26-can-china-quit-its-coal-habit-while-world-wrangles-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3155543/cop26-can-china-quit-its-coal-habit-while-world-wrangles-over?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Nov 2021 00:00:22 +0000 China does not want differences over specific climate targets to hold up action on bigger issues at COP26, according to Chinese climate envoy Xie Zhenhua. Xie said a major hurdle at the talks had been the suggestion by some countries to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. That target is more ambitious than the one laid out in the 2015 Paris Agreement – to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius and pursue efforts to control it within 1.5 degrees. “The target... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3155389/cop26-china-says-it-does-not-want-climate-solutions-held?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3155389/cop26-china-says-it-does-not-want-climate-solutions-held?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Nov 2021 06:53:45 +0000 Although US President Joe Biden has understandably sought to gain political capital from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence from COP26, the UN climate conference in Glasgow, Beijing’s actions speak louder than words. Indeed, China’s plan to achieve a carbon neutral economy by 2060 may prove to be a template for many developing countries. “I think it’s been a big mistake, quite frankly … with respect to China not showing up,” Biden said at COP26 last week. “The rest of the world is going to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155291/cop26-even-xis-absence-chinas-climate-actions-speak-louder-words?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155291/cop26-even-xis-absence-chinas-climate-actions-speak-louder-words?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Nov 2021 06:30:15 +0000 China is rolling out a lending facility at extremely favourable interest rates to support businesses engaged in low-carbon emission projects and renewable energy ventures, the latest move to undergird its long-term net-zero targets. The People’s Bank of China said it will provide a one-year facility for commercial banks at 1.75 per cent to subsidise their lending to green initiatives, it said in a statement on its website late on Monday. China’s one-year loan prime rate (LPR) stands at 3.85 per... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3155364/climate-change-chinas-central-bank-unveils-lending-facility-spur?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3155364/climate-change-chinas-central-bank-unveils-lending-facility-spur?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Nov 2021 03:35:43 +0000 For much of the past few decades, China’s growth has been powered by fossil fuels, particularly coal. While the economic gains have been vast and rapid, the toll on the environment has been huge. In the first of a four-part series, Echo Xie looks at how China has sought to change development gear over the last decade to combat pollution and see a more sustainable future. It was less than a decade ago that Barbara Finamore struggled to make out some of the buildings across the street from her... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3155289/airpocalypse-carbon-cutter-chinas-road-climate-reckoning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3155289/airpocalypse-carbon-cutter-chinas-road-climate-reckoning?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 08 Nov 2021 15:30:15 +0000 Clogged ports, long shipping delays and skyrocketing transport costs are all evidence of the havoc Covid-19 continues to wreak on global value chains. Firms are reconsidering where to locate production, whether and how much redundancy their operations need and which inventories to hold as a buffer against future shocks. The effects are rippling through the global economy, creating additional uncertainty and slowing recovery. Moreover, with policymakers in Glasgow for the UN Climate Change... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154949/how-turning-value-chains-green-can-accelerate-global-transition-net?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154949/how-turning-value-chains-green-can-accelerate-global-transition-net?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Nov 2021 17:30:16 +0000 China’s ambassador to the United Nations on Wednesday harshly criticised the United States over its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its back-pedalling on climate policies after President Joe Biden condemned Chinese and Russian leaders for not taking part in the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Zhang Jun wrote on Twitter that countries needed to make “firm commitment and continued actions” in tackling climate change, instead of conveying “empty slogans” and ever-changing policies. “China... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154680/cop26-china-urges-us-look-its-own-record-climate-action-after?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154680/cop26-china-urges-us-look-its-own-record-climate-action-after?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Nov 2021 06:28:16 +0000 China’s top climate negotiator said on Tuesday a broad deal on carbon markets was possible at the UN COP26 climate talks despite the tensions between Beijing and Washington. Some delegates say the US-China relationship is crucial for meaningful progress on global climate action at the summit. It is the first global gathering of leaders to discuss climate change since former US president Donald Trump, who antagonised China and quit the 2015 Paris Agreement the meeting is expected to build on,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154630/cop26-china-optimistic-climate-markets-deal-after-wasted-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154630/cop26-china-optimistic-climate-markets-deal-after-wasted-years?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Nov 2021 19:06:45 +0000 Wang Yuetang’s sneakers sink into the mud of what was once his thriving corn and peanut farm as he surveys the damage done by an unstable climate. Three months after torrential rains flooded much of central China’s Henan province, stretches of the country’s flat agricultural heartland are still submerged under several inches of water. It’s one of the many calamities around the world giving urgency to the United Nations climate summit under way in Glasgow, Scotland. “There is nothing this year.... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3154543/climate-change-china-farms-are-hit-extreme-weather-ordinary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3154543/climate-change-china-farms-are-hit-extreme-weather-ordinary?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Nov 2021 05:58:45 +0000 Chinese President Xi Jinping called on developed countries to do more to support developing nations’ efforts to combat climate change on Monday, as world leaders – excluding himself – gathered in Glasgow for a United Nations conference to seek ways to avert the climate crisis. In a written statement delivered to the COP26 summit, Xi also called on countries to focus on “concrete actions,” set “realistic targets and visions”, and harness innovations in science and technology to “accelerate the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154422/despite-not-going-cop26-president-xi-will-lay-out-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154422/despite-not-going-cop26-president-xi-will-lay-out-chinas?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Nov 2021 06:34:10 +0000 Across 25 UN climate conferences since 1995, only twice have more than 110 world leaders joined the fray to confront the spectre of global warming. As they do so again Monday in Glasgow, an unspoken question looms: Copenhagen or Paris? Will COP26, in other words, more closely resemble the Danish diplomatic debacle of 2009, or the triumph that six years later led to the first climate treaty in which all nations vowed to shrink their carbon footprint and collectively cap Earth’s rising... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3154410/cop26-glasgow-handy-guide-key-climate-facts-and-terms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3154410/cop26-glasgow-handy-guide-key-climate-facts-and-terms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Nov 2021 05:25:31 +0000 US President Joe Biden has criticised the absence of his Chinese and Russian counterparts, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, from the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rome as “disappointing”, after the gathered heads signed off on a communique that promised to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises but contained few new commitments. “There’s a reason why people should be disappointed” by Xi and Putin not making in-person appearances, Biden said. “I found it disappointing myself.” He added:... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154367/g20-leaders-promise-try-limit-global-temperature-rises-15c?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3154367/g20-leaders-promise-try-limit-global-temperature-rises-15c?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 14:10:49 +0000 Just a week before the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, three of the United Nations’ leading agencies on climate and development released alarming reports. The World Meteorological Organization has highlighted how greenhouse gases in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2020. It found that concentrations of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere rose at a faster rate in 2020 than over the previous decade. The UN Environment Programme reports that new and updated... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154116/cop26-how-plugging-data-gaps-will-transform-our-response-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3154116/cop26-how-plugging-data-gaps-will-transform-our-response-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 31 Oct 2021 01:15:19 +0000 Developed countries should offer more help to the developing world in coping with climate change, China said ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, set to begin on Sunday. “At previous summits, developing countries were disappointed that the finance and climate adaptation issues that concerned them could not be taken seriously and effectively responded to,” environment vice-minister Ye Min said on Wednesday. “This has become the biggest obstacle [in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3153919/cop26-developed-nations-should-meet-climate-finance-pledges?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3153919/cop26-developed-nations-should-meet-climate-finance-pledges?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Oct 2021 15:30:26 +0000 China has released a framework for its path towards peak emissions and carbon neutrality ahead of the critical United Nations climate summit that begins in Glasgow on Sunday. The State Council on Tuesday issued the action plan for the country to peak carbon emissions before 2030, in which it restated the country’s climate goals for 2025 and 2030. By 2030, the share of non-fossil fuels in China’s energy consumption is set to increase to 25 per cent from less than 16 per cent in 2020, and it is... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3153785/china-issues-plan-path-peak-emissions-and-carbon-neutral-goal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3153785/china-issues-plan-path-peak-emissions-and-carbon-neutral-goal?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Oct 2021 23:30:13 +0000 World leaders will gather in Glasgow, Scotland, at the end of October to discuss how to accelerate progress towards a net-zero carbon economy. Investors, who are increasingly engaged with climate change and see the need to adapt their strategies, will be following events closely. The past year has given us plenty of examples of the urgency of climate change and how it threatens our economies and societies. We saw flooding in China, extreme temperatures in the Pacific northwest of North America... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152902/cop26-despite-energy-crunch-focus-must-remain-renewables?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3152902/cop26-despite-energy-crunch-focus-must-remain-renewables?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Oct 2021 19:30:17 +0000 With the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow now just three weeks away, the daunting global scale of the challenges we face has become clear. The summer’s floods, fires and other pestilences have demonstrated the dreadful immediacy of global warming. Soaring fossil fuel prices worldwide have provided stark warnings on the difficulty and huge cost of the transition to sustainability, both for governments, and for us as individuals. But evidence of the political or personal will to make the necessary... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3151534/getting-net-zero-going-be-brutal-slog-are-we-ready-make-drastic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3151534/getting-net-zero-going-be-brutal-slog-are-we-ready-make-drastic?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Oct 2021 00:45:08 +0000 Heavy-handed measures by local governments to meet Beijing’s energy consumption and carbon emission targets for fulfilling its climate commitments have drawn the ire of international manufacturers and caused costs to spike in many industries. At least 20 of China’s 31 provincial-level jurisdictions are rationing electricity to play catch-up, after they were unable to meet Beijing’s annual dual targets earlier in the year. Nine provinces have been criticised by the central government for their... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3150574/chinas-power-crisis-prompted-emission-targets-spiralling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3150574/chinas-power-crisis-prompted-emission-targets-spiralling?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Sep 2021 23:30:09 +0000 The climate change agenda has had a lower profile for much of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with the success of the COP26 summit in Glasgow hanging in the balance, October should see a super surge in high-profile climate announcements. With just a month before the UN Climate Change Conference begins, the United Nations General Assembly last week set the tone for a big October. US President Joe Biden pledged to work with Congress to quadruple America’s financial commitment to developing nations... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3150538/cop26-time-countries-raise-their-climate-game-glasgow-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3150538/cop26-time-countries-raise-their-climate-game-glasgow-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Sep 2021 07:30:20 +0000 Running on the western bank of the Xi River in Foshan city in southern China’s Greater Bay Area, a revolution in transport is quietly under way, one that the Chinese government hopes will slash kerbside pollution and pave the way for public transport to become truly emissions-free. A tram running 6.6 kilometres from Cangjiang Road to Zhihu in the Gaoming district has been operating since late 2019, powered by so-called “blue” hydrogen produced through breaking down methane gas into carbon... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3149113/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-foshan-leads-silent-revolution-green?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3149113/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-foshan-leads-silent-revolution-green?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Sep 2021 02:15:13 +0000 Beijing has given the green light for the formation through merger of a central government-controlled electricity transmission and distribution equipment giant, as part of a reform of industry and state-owned enterprises to drive efficiency. The move, which involves the consolidation of XJ Group and six units under dominant power distributor State Grid Corporation of China, will create a company with more than 100 billion yuan (US$15.5 billion) in assets according to state media reports. Some of... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3148845/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-beijing-approves-creation-power-grid-equipment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3148845/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-beijing-approves-creation-power-grid-equipment?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Sep 2021 00:30:13 +0000 China has shrunk its coal power projects pipeline by 74 per cent since committing to the Paris Agreement on climate change, but it should do more to curb new construction, according to a think tank that has called for a total ban on new projects. As new projects slowed to a trickle everywhere, China – home to more than half of the world’s operating coal power generating capacity – commissioned 76 per cent of new capacity globally last year, up from 64 per cent in 2019, E3G said in report on... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3148609/china-should-stop-building-more-coal-power-plants-soon-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3148609/china-should-stop-building-more-coal-power-plants-soon-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Sep 2021 23:30:21 +0000 Sinopec Green Energy Geothermal Development, the world’s largest developer of projects that use underground heat to keep buildings warm during winter, expects to grow by 25 per cent annually over next five years. The company is a joint venture between Reykjavik-based Arctic Green Energy, which owns 46 per cent, and state-owned oil and gas giant China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), which owns the remaining 54 per cent. Sinopec Green Energy is being driven by China’s carbon-neutrality... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3147433/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-sinopec-geothermal-joint-venture-expects-25?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3147433/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-sinopec-geothermal-joint-venture-expects-25?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Sep 2021 05:30:17 +0000 China and the United States are expected to discuss cutting carbon emissions and fossil fuel projects during a visit by US climate envoy John Kerry, who is due to arrive in Tianjin on Tuesday night. Kerry will stay in the northeastern city until Friday, meeting his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua for a follow-up to their talks in Shanghai in April. The former secretary of state will head to Tianjin after climate talks in Tokyo earlier in the day, including with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3147029/china-may-make-new-pledges-talks-visiting-us-climate-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3147029/china-may-make-new-pledges-talks-visiting-us-climate-envoy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 31 Aug 2021 10:00:19 +0000 China is aiming to be carbon neutral by 2060, and for its carbon emissions to peak by 2030. But its initial efforts have been undermined regionally, partly by provinces continuing to launch high-energy and high-emissions projects. After China – the world’s biggest energy user and greenhouse gases emitter – set its ambitious targets last September, its carbon dioxide emissions in the first quarter of 2021 grew at their fastest rate in more than a decade. Carbon dioxide emissions rose 15 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3146568/china-has-carbon-neutral-goals-local-level-old-habits-die-hard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3146568/china-has-carbon-neutral-goals-local-level-old-habits-die-hard?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Aug 2021 06:00:11 +0000 PetroChina said it expects investments on low-carbon energy projects to account for one-third of its overall spending by 2035, underpinning the state-backed company’s efforts to help the country achieve net zero emission by 2060. The announcement came as China’s largest oil and gas producer on Thursday posted a remarkable turnaround in first-half earnings. The company reported net profit of 53 billion yuan (US$8.17 billion) for the six months ended June, compared to a loss of 30 billion yuan a... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3146526/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-petrochina-maps-out-low-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3146526/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-petrochina-maps-out-low-carbon?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Aug 2021 12:01:28 +0000 Standard Chartered plans to publish a comprehensive plan in October to press clients to transition to net zero carbon emissions, by broadening its client exclusion policy to cover non-coal fossil fuel and other emission-intensive industries, said CEO Bill Winters. The bank hopes its clients will be able to slash their carbon dioxide emissions by 45 per cent to 50 per cent by 2030, and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 – the time frame for global warming to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145981/climate-change-standard-chartereds-net-zero-plan-include?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145981/climate-change-standard-chartereds-net-zero-plan-include?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:30:11 +0000 China Petrochemical Corporation, or Sinopec Group, which is vying to lead the development of China’s nascent hydrogen industry, is building what it believes to be two of the world’s largest green hydrogen projects in the country’s north. Sinopec has invested in the plants in Ordos, in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and in Tahe, in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, while its Hong Kong-listed unit, Sinopec Engineering, is in charge of design and construction. Both facilities will be... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3146033/climate-change-chinas-sinopec-builds-worlds-biggest-solar-hydrogen-plants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3146033/climate-change-chinas-sinopec-builds-worlds-biggest-solar-hydrogen-plants?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Aug 2021 09:31:38 +0000 Government policies to mitigate the impact of climate change will stoke inflation, but delaying them could depress economic growth and investment returns, according to investment strategists. Policymakers face a trade-off between the high upfront cost of moving quickly towards net zero carbon targets, and the long-term damage to economic growth caused by rising temperatures if they delay action, they said. “As global policy kicks into gear and brings the transition risks associated with reducing... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145783/climate-change-decarbonisation-stoke-inflation-delaying?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3145783/climate-change-decarbonisation-stoke-inflation-delaying?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Aug 2021 02:00:12 +0000 China kicked off its national carbon-trading exchange last month with little fanfare. The relatively low-key ceremony was unlike the much-trumpeted launch of the Star Market for its budding tech companies in Shanghai two years ago. Instead of suited-up company executives lining up on a red-carpeted stage to initiate trading, the Shanghai Environment and Energy Exchange’s introduction featured dozens of white-shirted Communist Party cadres and state companies executives seated in rows to watch... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3144768/climate-change-chinas-emissions-trading-market-needs-fine?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3144768/climate-change-chinas-emissions-trading-market-needs-fine?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Aug 2021 02:00:05 +0000 If you want to see the huge chasm that lies between the “code red” climate warning from the world’s scientists this week and the agenda driven by the British government, host of the critically important COP26 UN climate summit in Glasgow in November, look no further than Allegra Stratton, Boris Johnson’s summit spokeswoman. She listed “micro-steps” people can consider as we strive towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050: “Did you know [ …] you don’t really need to rinse your dishes before they... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3144854/code-red-climate-emergency-alarming-complacency-endures-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3144854/code-red-climate-emergency-alarming-complacency-endures-over?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Aug 2021 00:45:20 +0000 Extreme floods and droughts, which will become more frequent and severe in the coming years, may pose a greater threat to China’s economic development than previously thought, said two of the authors of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on the global phenomenon. Climate change will intensify the so-called water cycle, the continuous movement of water within the Earth and the atmosphere in the form of rain, snow and clouds, they noted in their sixth... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3144759/climate-change-extreme-floods-and-droughts-will-be-greater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3144759/climate-change-extreme-floods-and-droughts-will-be-greater?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Aug 2021 04:04:19 +0000 Hong Kong will suffer typhoons more destructive than Mangkhut, droughts that wreak havoc on drinking water supplies and pummelling heatwaves if global warming exceeds 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) by 2050. The warning from local scientists came in response to a “code red for humanity” issued by the United Nations (UN) on Monday in a climate report that found humans had already pushed up global temperatures by about 1.1 degrees since the 19th century through burning coal, oil and... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3144433/super-typhoons-droughts-and-heatwaves-dire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3144433/super-typhoons-droughts-and-heatwaves-dire?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Aug 2021 00:00:20 +0000 Global temperatures are expected to increase by 1.5 degrees Celsius or more in the next two decades from pre-industrial levels unless “immediate, rapid and large-scale” reductions in greenhouse gases are achieved, climate experts have warned. Failure to stem the rot could render the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees by the next decades “beyond reach,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a United Nations body, said in a report on Monday. Human activities have raised... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144337/climate-change-unchecked-gas-emissions-make-earth-hotter-and-sooner-un?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3144337/climate-change-unchecked-gas-emissions-make-earth-hotter-and-sooner-un?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Aug 2021 08:00:14 +0000 Most companies in the Asia-Pacific are willing to pay a premium to rent space in sustainable buildings as they look to make good on their sustainability pledges, real estate consultancy JLL said. While 70 per cent of occupiers in the region were willing to pay a rental premium for green space, that ratio was lower at 62 per cent among those in Hong Kong, according to a survey of 550 industry leaders across the region by JLL. “With 40 per cent of real estate occupiers across Asia-Pacific having... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143844/asia-pacific-companies-willing-pay-higher-rent-green-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3143844/asia-pacific-companies-willing-pay-higher-rent-green-buildings?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Aug 2021 00:30:17 +0000 The world should focus on delivering decarbonisation promises and engage in international technological cooperation, rather than arguing over agreed upon goals, according to Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate change envoy. Xie, the country’s top climate diplomat, told a webinar on Tuesday that it was more important for countries to pool resources to innovate and share technology to reduce the cost of low carbon energy solutions, than to wrangle over whether to upgrade global goals to keep global... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3143691/climate-change-world-should-focus-delivering-commitments-instead-setting?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3143691/climate-change-world-should-focus-delivering-commitments-instead-setting?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Aug 2021 12:45:08 +0000 China’s capacity for generating power from non-fossil energy is poised to exceed that of coal power plants by the end of the year, according to the China Electricity Council. However, the carbon-intensive fuel will still dominate the nation’s power supply for years to come because so little of the capacity available at renewable energy projects is actually used. While investment in non-fossil fuel projects will make up 90 per cent of the total 189 billion yuan (US$29.2 billion) to be spent on... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3142698/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-non-fossil-fuel-capacity-will?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3142698/chinas-carbon-neutral-goal-non-fossil-fuel-capacity-will?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 Jul 2021 09:15:11 +0000 Baowu Steel Group, the world’s largest steelmaker, has established an investment fund focusing on carbon-neutral projects to bolster China’s ambitions of getting greenhouse emissions under control. The state-owned company said in a statement that it aimed to ultimately raise 50 billion yuan (US$7.73 billion), along with its partners China Pacific Insurance, the National Green Development Fund and CCB Financial Asset Investment. The fundraising target for the first phase is 10 billion yuan. The... https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3141411/baowu-steel-group-plans-us77-billion-fund-pursue-carbon-neutral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/3141411/baowu-steel-group-plans-us77-billion-fund-pursue-carbon-neutral?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 Jul 2021 09:29:48 +0000 The communique released by the G7 on June 13 at the conclusion of its three-day summit ran to 25 pages and addressed a wide range of issues, including climate change. Since 1995, the Conference of the Parties of United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have met annually to discuss climate change – COP15 held in 2009 produced the “Copenhagen accord” and COP21 in 2015 produced the “Paris agreement”, both of which have not so far produced any tangible results. The Group of Seven summit... https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3138338/why-less-more-rich-nations-battle-against-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3138338/why-less-more-rich-nations-battle-against-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Jun 2021 22:20:11 +0000