China's quest to increase coal output undermines its efforts to tackle global warming
Nov 12, 2022
Beijing [China], November 12 : In the wake of building more thermal power stations and amplifying its coal output, China has become the biggest carbon emitter in the world and its emissions have become a serious problem since it accounts for over a third of man-made greenhouse emissions in the world, David Sandalow, former US energy official and researcher at the Centre on Global Energy Policy, has said.
International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS), in a report citing Sandalow, stated there is no permanent solution to climate change without decreasing China's coal combustion.
Moreover, China is likely to continue its use of coal until a clean energy alternative is found.
According to IFFRAS, the coal output in China is set to increase to 4.6 billion tonnes in 2025 instead of a reduction from the current coal production of 4.1 billion tonnes, with the setting up of coal plants overseas. China share is more than 50 per cent of the total 176 gigawatts of coal capacity. This way Beijing continues to contribute to global carbon emissions.
In 2021, Xi made a point in the UN General Assembly saying that China would not build a new coal plant but assist other countries to switch to low-carbon and green energy, IFFRAS reported.
China witnessed an unprecedented power crisis in 2021, affecting businesses, industry, and the overall lives of people. Hence, Beijing has decided to approve new coal plants to achieve energy security.
However, China is building new coal plants in Turkey and a few African countries, and some are financed under the controversial Belt Road Initiative (BRI) scheme as well.
When China stated in September 2021 that it would no longer finance coal-fired power stations outside of China, the global powers were pleasantly surprised.
Li Shuo, a senior global policy adviser for Greenpeace said, "This mentality of ensuring energy security has become dominant, trumping carbon neutrality."
Over 70 per cent of coal power plants in the world are financed by Chinese banks under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This is worth to be noted that China claims that the BRI promotes green development and strengthens eco-environment protection however none of this holds true as far as reality is concerned.
