• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities
  FEATURED
Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows February 7, 2023
AI Predicts World Over 1.5°C Limit by 2030, Undercuts Climate Progress Reports February 7, 2023
February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America February 7, 2023
Solar Geoengineering Banned in Mexico After ‘Rogue’ Stunt February 7, 2023
Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits February 7, 2023
Next
Prev

China to End International Coal Financing after ‘Profoundly Important’ UN Statement

September 23, 2021
Reading time: 4 minutes
Primary Author: Compiled by Mitchell Beer @mitchellbeer

Paul Kagame/flickr

Paul Kagame/flickr

23
SHARES
 

A single phrase in a recorded address to the United Nations General Assembly sent waves through the international climate policy community this week as President Xi Jinping pledged China will stop building and funding coal-fired power plants in other countries.

Xi’s statement that “China will step up support for other developing countries in developing green and low-carbon energy, and will not build new coal-fired power projects abroad” had some analysts expressing suspicions or anxious for details. But the announcement was still “profoundly important,” coming from the country that is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and coal, accounting for more than half of global coal and steel production, said Tim Buckley, Director of Energy Finance Studies, Australia/South Asia at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
New!
Subscribe

“When China moves, the world changes, dramatically,” he added. “And when the Chinese President speaks, China acts.”

Moreover, “it was government capital subsidies from China, along with Japan and South Korea, that underwrote almost every new coal power plant built globally in the last five years,” Buckley wrote. After Japan stepped away in 2020 and South Korea in 2021, “China’s pledge to stop building coal-fired power plants overseas could cull US$50 billion of investment as it slashes future carbon emissions,” Reuters added.

In the period leading up to this week’s UN session, China “has been under international pressure to announce an end to overseas coal financing as part of its updated package of national climate pledges to be submitted to the United Nations,” the news agency noted. Citing U.S. think tank Global Energy Monitor, The Guardian said the decision could affect 44 new coal plants that were in line for Chinese state funding. Statista had Global Energy Monitor data listing Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Vietnam, South Africa, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe as the top eight recipients of China’s coal project financing.

But the specifics behind the pledge were still nebulous. “Will China’s semi-public institutions continue financing projects? What about projects that have been pre-approved?” Politico Morning Energy asked.

“Many questions can be asked about the announcement, including whether it will be implemented immediately, does it include only financing or also construction, does it apply to state actors only, will it lead to a similar moratorium on fossil fuels?” tweeted Greenpeace East Asia Senior Advisor Li Shuo. “The answer to them is simply, ‘we don’t know’. Seeking clarification should be a priority for the next few weeks.”

While the announcement was “hugely important,” agreed Scott Moore, director of China programs and strategic initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, “we need more clarity as to how this applies to all forms of financing as well as construction; and certainly one hopes this is a first step toward phasing out financing for all fossil fuel infrastructure abroad.”

Moore still called the decision a “major step, in spite of worsening tensions between the U.S. and China, suggesting that a more competitive stance hasn’t impeded China’s ability to make more ambitious climate commitments.”

The announcement was greeted as a rare bright spot in the deeply troubled run-up to this year’s United Nations climate conference, COP 26, in Glasgow, Scotland. The Guardian says UN Secretary General António Guterres welcomed the announcement. But he said the world still had “a long way to go” for a successful outcome at the COP and urged countries to “go the extra mile” by bringing their “highest level of ambition” to the conference.

Former Australian climate diplomat Thom Woodroofe, now a fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, called Xi’s pledge a “big line in the sand”, citing it as “further evidence China knows the future is paved by renewables. The key question now is when they will draw a similar line in the sand at home.”

Woodroofe was one of several analysts who pointed to the need for China to draw down its domestic coal emissions, telling The Guardian that a ban on coal financing abroad was “in many ways an easy decision for China to take ahead of COP 26—far easier than peaking emissions by 2025, which many had hoped” to see Xi announce earlier this year.

Bloomberg says China’s decision to bail on international coal financing should be a big boon to renewable energy. “The nation’s two major policy banks alone have funded more than $166 billion in overseas fossil fuel investments since 2008, or about $12.8 billion a year,” the news agency writes, citing Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. “That amount would have covered the combined renewable investment last year of Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Portugal, Ireland, Indonesia, Hungary, Greece, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, New Zealand, Peru, and Hong Kong, according to BloombergNEF data.”

Continue Reading



in Asia, China, Climate & Society, Coal, Community Climate Finance, COP Conferences, Ending Emissions, Fossil Fuels, International Agencies & Studies, Jurisdictions

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Peoplepoweredbyenergy/Wikimedia Commons
Ending Emissions

Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows

February 7, 2023
184
The hottest summer days in a typical New York City year are now about 11 times more frequent than in the 19th century. Image: Andreas Komodromos via Flickr
Carbon Levels & Measurement

AI Predicts World Over 1.5°C Limit by 2030, Undercuts Climate Progress Reports

February 7, 2023
54
Andre Carrotflower/wikimedia commons
Severe Storms & Flooding

February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America

February 7, 2023
27

Comments 1

  1. Charles H Jefferson says:
    1 year ago

    Looks encouraging. Will the move away from “Biosphere” destruction come to an end fast enough ? Will enough be left functioning for at least some of any future generations of our species and others to permit some life as we have known it, to continue? All advanced societies must fast adjust to Net Zero stress on the Biosphere by 2050 , only some 30 years hence , according to recent projections. Will that be done? Hopefully for the younger of us Sapiens. That is my reading of what I have gleaned from information base I have been able to sample

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Peoplepoweredbyenergy/Wikimedia Commons

Wind and Solar Cheaper than Gas Plants in Ontario and Alberta, Study Shows

February 7, 2023
184
Beckyq6937/Wikimedia Commons

Solar Geoengineering Banned in Mexico After ‘Rogue’ Stunt

February 7, 2023
84
Michael E. Brunk/flickr

Green Building ‘Heroes’, Climate Contrarian ‘Zombies’, Shell Lawsuits, and ‘Sponge Cities’ to Solve Flooding

February 7, 2023
68
The hottest summer days in a typical New York City year are now about 11 times more frequent than in the 19th century. Image: Andreas Komodromos via Flickr

AI Predicts World Over 1.5°C Limit by 2030, Undercuts Climate Progress Reports

February 7, 2023
54
Peter Broster/wikimedia commons

Ottawa Mulls Higher-Speed Trains on Busy Toronto-Quebec City Corridor

February 7, 2023
54
Brian Robert Marshall/Geograph

Canada’s Solid Renewables Growth Falls Short of Net-Zero Ambitions

February 7, 2023
53

Recent Posts

Andre Carrotflower/wikimedia commons

February Brings Record Cold, Widespread Power Outages to Much of North America

February 7, 2023
27
Nemaska Lithium/Facebook

Lithium Mine Divides Nemaska Cree Over Impacts, Benefits

February 7, 2023
18
Mike Mozart/Flickr

BP Predicts Faster Oil and Gas Decline as Clean Energy Spending Hits $1.1T in 2022

February 4, 2023
353
Gina Dittmer/PublicDomainPictures

Canada Needs Oil and Gas Emissions Cap to Hit 2030 Goal: NZAB

January 31, 2023
208
CONFENIAE

Ecuador’s Amazon Drilling Plan Shows Need for Fossil Non-Proliferation Treaty

January 31, 2023
82
Ken Teegardin www.SeniorLiving.Org/flickr

Virtual Power Plants Hit an ‘Inflection Point’

January 31, 2023
137
Next Post

Consumer Electronics Giant Logitech Pledges Carbon Neutrality by 2030

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • UK & Europe
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Community Climate Finance
  • Clean Electricity Grid
  • Cities & Communities

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}