International: China
Is China’s surge in coal consumption just a passing phase?
31 Jul 2023
China’s increase in coal use is inflicting damage on its green credentials, given its progress in developing renewable energy.
Carbon pricing to affect investments, survey claims
18 Jul 2023
The trading of carbon emission allowances in China is expected to increasingly affect investment decisions as the carbon price rises steadily, according to the 2022 China Carbon Pricing Survey report.
China power plants beef up production amid surging electricity demand
13 Jul 2023
Power plants have ramped up efforts to secure electricity supply, including increasing output at coal-fired power plants, in response to the surging demand due to a prolonged heat wave.
China is pumping out carbon emissions as if COVID never happened.
10 Jul 2023
Carbon emissions from China are growing faster now than before COVID-19 struck, dashing hopes the pandemic may have put the world’s most polluting nation on a new emissions trajectory.
Energy security: China doubles down on renewables and coal
3 Jul 2023
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupting fossil fuel supplies and prices, global attention to energy security has heightened.
China’s solar is now at twice the capacity of its coal power – report
30 Jun 2023
Solar is growing at 33.7% year-on-year and is now at twice the capacity of coal power in China, according to a new report.
China study: clean energy switch could save thousands of lives, earn billions of dollars
27 Jun 2023
Industrial parks in China could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% and avoid tens of thousands of premature deaths if they switched to clean energy earlier than a 2030 baseline scenario, a study has found.
Despite billions, China’s state-run agribusiness company still turns to deforesters
23 Jun 2023
Cofco is a state-run Chinese company with a mission of importing enough food to feed the country’s 1.4 billion people.
Chinese cities break heat records, stressing electricity grid
20 Jun 2023
Several cities in northern China broke heat records for June this week, with soaring temperatures straining the country's electricity supplies and leading authorities to hold mock emergency drills.
China carbon goals, green transition within reach
15 Jun 2023
China is capable of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions ahead of schedule while further accelerating the global transition to a low-carbon energy structure, as the country's non-fossil fuel energy sources have exceeded 50 percent of its total installed electricity generation capacity, industry experts said.
Confusion surrounds China’s pledged climate finance towards the Global South
8 Jun 2023
The delivery of a multi-billion climate fund pledged by China nearly eight years ago to support the Global South remains “unclear”, experts have told Climate Home News.
German climate envoy urges China to look beyond coal for energy-secure future
9 May 2023
China needs to seek alternative solutions to ensure its energy security, rather than relying on building new coal-fired power plants, according to Germany’s climate envoy.
China to ship climate change aids to developing nations
13 Apr 2023
China will soon ship a series of aids to three developing nations to help beef up their capabilities to cope with climate change, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
China may meet solar, wind goals five years earlier
5 Apr 2023
China may reach its 2030 target for wind and solar energy development five years earlier than planned.
Biden’s landmark climate bill lures China’s clean energy giants
3 Apr 2023
China’s leading renewables firms are joining the rush to open factories in the U.S. after Washington passed a landmark climate bill that supports local clean energy manufacturing.
Legacy auto faces disaster in China with unsellable cars as pollution crunch looms
31 Mar 2023
We are currently witnessing a major disruption in the world’s largest car market, that will have massive implications for the biggest carmakers as they seek to manage the switch from fossil fuel vehicles to electric.
A warmer, wetter climate challenges a Chinese eco-farm
17 Mar 2023
In recent years, a new narrative has appeared on Chinese social media: that a warmer and wetter climate in Northwest China will herald a return to the “golden age” of the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD).
Chinese rice farming trials cut methane emissions
13 Mar 2023
In a mountain village in south-west China, the local people are playing a guessing game. A new climate-friendly way of growing rice is being trialed here that will reduce methane emissions. So, what’s the difference in yield between it and the conventional method?
China urged to place ‘wellbeing’ above GDP amid climate threat
24 Feb 2023
A team of influential economists has urged China to adopt a new development model based on “wellbeing” rather than gross domestic product (GDP) growth to fulfil its 2060 net-zero emissions goals and head off the mounting threats of climate change.
China: What the world’s largest food system means for climate change
21 Feb 2023
In 2019, China’s giant food system produced 1.9bn tonnes of CO2 equivalent – around the same as the total annual emissions of Russia, the world’s fourth largest polluter.
World’s largest onshore wind turbine, and the first to reach 10MW, debuts in China
15 Feb 2023
Chinese wind energy company Envision Energy has reportedly debuted a new 10MW onshore wind turbine, the largest of its kind and boasting the world’s largest rotor diameter.
China’s rice farming trials cut methane emissions and increase yields
9 Feb 2023
In a mountain village in south-west China, the local people are playing a guessing game. A new climate-friendly way of growing rice is being trialled here that will reduce methane emissions. So, what’s the difference in yield between it and the conventional method?
How will EU’s ‘green tariff’ impact China’s carbon market?
7 Feb 2023
European Union (EU) negotiators agreed in December to charge a carbon border tax on certain imports into the bloc, beginning in 2026.
China fast-tracking renewable energy
31 Jan 2023
China’s solar and wind power generating capacities are the largest in the world, accounting for more than 35% of the global total. As demand continues to grow to meet its climate goals, the need for storage facilities has also become critical to ensure a ready and consistent supply.
Climate-based tariffs by US, EU on Chinese steel and aluminium would ‘set a concerning precedent for China’
13 Dec 2022
The imposition of climate-based tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium – reportedly being considered by the United States and European Union – would set a concerning precedent for China, but the overall impact on those sectors should be limited, according to analysts.
China, covid and climate
1 Dec 2022
The protests erupting across China deserve international solidarity. The future of the planet could be determined by their success - or failure.
Should China be let off the hook for climate finance?
30 Nov 2022
The most important outcome of COP27, the climate summit in Egypt earlier this month, was the creation of a new UN-administered fund to compensate developing countries for the costs they incur from climate change-related disasters.
Hong Kong exchange carries out first carbon credit trades
25 Nov 2022
The Hong Kong stock exchange has carried out the first batch of carbon credit trades on its new voluntary carbon market, joining a handful of Asian exchanges in tapping opportunities resulting from governments' push to achieve climate goals.
The world's biggest source of clean energy is evaporating fast
27 Oct 2022
China’s Three Gorges Dam is an awe-inspiring sight, a vast barrier across the Yangtze River that contains enough concrete to fill seven Wembley Stadiums and more steel than eight Empire State Buildings. Its turbines could singlehandedly power the Philippines. But this summer, the world’s largest power plant was eerily quiet.
Our solar powered future is already China’s reality
6 Oct 2022
Atop the Tibetan plateau in Qinghai province, northern China, sits the Longyangxia Dam facility, a 27-square-kilometer solar farm that is filled with a sea of four million deep blue-colored photovoltaic panels.
China’s climate push could spawn new global players, even if Beijing falls short on its pledge
5 Oct 2022
Two years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping formally announced the world’s second largest economy would strive for peak carbon emissions in 2030, and carbon neutrality in 2060. These ambitions are spawning companies that could one day become global leaders in their fields.
China tells Europe to not backslide on climate commitments
23 Sep 2022
China has accused some European nations of a “backswing” in the implementation of urgent climate change goals as geopolitical turmoil grips the continent.
China droughts highlight energy challenge as climate heats up
8 Sep 2022
Hotter weather is expected to push China's enormous energy consumption even higher in the coming years.
Sichuan uses 5000 solar panels to boost power supply
31 Aug 2022
A total of 5,000 solar panels were put into use at an expressway section linking Southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Wednesday. The panels are expected to generate 4.22 million kilowatt hours (kW) annually, in an effort to boost power supply and ease the power crunch in the province.
China's unprecedented 70-day heatwave is breaking multiple records
24 Aug 2022
China's more than two-month long heatwave has dried up as many as 66 rivers, including the critical Yangtze River, the world's third longest waterway.
Chinese companies seek global carbon market for green hydrogen
9 Aug 2022
Three Chinese organisations are leading the charge to create an international carbon market for green hydrogen.
China releases plan to guide carbon-intensive industries to reach peak emissions by 2030
3 Aug 2022
Seven industrial sectors in China have been assigned targets to reduce energy consumption and boost recycling to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
China greenlights carbon economy degree to aid its climate goals
27 Jul 2022
China’s climate commitments are making their way into the country’s university classrooms.
China to build more low-carbon communities
14 Jul 2022
China will encourage more residential communities to evolve into low-carbon ones as part of the country's efforts to meet its climate goals.
China’s domination of solar a risk to zero-carbon future: IEA
11 Jul 2022
Countries must lessen their dependence on China’s production of solar panels and dramatically boost manufacturing capacity to reach net-zero emissions, the International Energy Agency has said.
Shanghai to trial personal carbon accounts
8 Jul 2022
China is trying to tap the emissions reduction potential of personal consumption, and package such reductions as a class of carbon asset to be incorporated into the country’s growing carbon market.
China announces ban on industrial projects to combat climate change in key zones
20 Jun 2022
China Friday announced that it will ban new steel, coking, oil refining, cement, and glass projects in key zones to combat climate change by lowering pollution and carbon emissions.
China cuts carbon emissions per unit of GDP by half from 2005
16 Jun 2022
China has made great achievements in carbon reduction, with its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP in 2021 plunging by 50.3 percent from 2005, an official said Wednesday.
Rebooting China’s carbon credits: What will 2022 bring?
10 Jun 2022
Carbon market players are watching closely to see how China’s version of carbon credits, the China Certified Emission Reductions (CCER) scheme, will be rebooted.
China’s climate change Pacific reset
31 May 2022
By Jeremy Rose | Last month saw the opening of the China-Pacific Island Countries Climate Action Cooperation Centre in Liaocheng City, Shandong Province. It’s opening, perhaps not surprisingly, barely rated a mention in the New Zealand and Australian media.
China’s CO2 emissions see longest sustained drop in a decade
31 May 2022
China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by an estimated 1.4% in the first three months of 2022, making it the third quarter in a row of falling emissions.
China’s emissions expected to peak in 2027: state think tank
8 Apr 2022
China’s carbon emissions could peak three years ahead of the 2030 government target, according to a report published on 31 March by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), a state-affiliated think tank.
China’s funding for overseas coal projects under construction to release 300 million tonnes of emissions a year
4 Apr 2022
China’s decision to stop funding new coal power projects overseas has been welcomed by climate experts, but they were equally disappointed by Beijing’s commitment for projects already under construction, pointing out that this could lead to 300 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year.
What does China’s coal push mean for its climate goals?
30 Mar 2022
Late last year, following widespread power shortages, China’s leadership repeatedly emphasised the importance of ensuring energy security – a country’s ability to secure sufficient and affordable energy supplies without interruption.
China's carbon market has a credibility problem: analysts
28 Mar 2022
China’s newly launched national carbon emissions trading system (ETS), the world’s largest, needs to raise its game on fraud prevention by imposing steeper penalties on offending companies to deter cheating, analysts said.
Australia's green energy push, Pacific ties face setback from COP31 impasse
Fri 14 Nov 2025
Australia risks undermining efforts to establish itself as a leader in the green energy transition and letting down its vulnerable Pacific island neighbours if its bid to host next year's biggest climate summit fails, diplomats and analysts say.
Trump is said to propose opening California coast to oil drilling
Fri 14 Nov 2025
Gov. Gavin Newsom, a chief critic of the president and an opponent of oil exploration in the Pacific, called the proposal “dead on arrival.”
A crucial system of ocean currents may be on course to collapse. This country just declared it a national security threat
Today 10:45am
As evidence mounts these currents could be on course for collapse, Iceland’s government has made the unusual move of designating the risk a national security threat.
Scotland's first wind farm 'supercharged' after upgrade
Tue 11 Nov 2025
Scotland's first commercial wind farm will be able to deliver five times more clean power than before after being upgraded.
Canada’s new budget has billions in fossil subsidies disguised as climate action
10 Nov 2025
Ottawa's new CCS and hydrogen credits extend to 2035, but most of the billions go to oil sands and refining, not clean industry.
South Korean growers sue state power utility, blaming climate change for crop damage
Today 10:45am
Five South Korean farmers recently sued the state utility Korea Electric Power Corporation and its power-generating subsidiaries, alleging that their reliance on coal and other fossil fuels has accelerated climate change and damaged their crops.
Mystery heatwave warms Pacific Ocean to new record
21 Oct 2025
The waters of the north Pacific have had their warmest summer on record, according to BBC analysis of a mysterious marine heatwave that has confounded climate scientists.
Scientists discovered something alarming seeping out from beneath the ocean around Antarctica
13 Oct 2025
Planet-heating methane is escaping from cracks in the Antarctic seabed as the region warms, with new seeps being discovered at an “astonishing rate".
What do African countries want from COP30?
Tue 11 Nov 2025
At the UN climate summit, African negotiators are seeking more “debt-free” financing that would allow them to implement climate solutions – from adaptation to just transition.
A fossil fuel fight brews at COP30 as delegates draft road map
Today 10:45am
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva surprised many at the opening ceremony of the COP30 leaders summit in Belém last week when he called for world leaders to prepare a road map to “overcome dependence on fossil fuels.”
Ethiopia set to host UN's 2027 climate summit, 2026 undecided
Thu 13 Nov 2025
Uncertainty still surrounds which country will host next year's UN climate conference: Australia or Turkey. But for 2027, there's little mystery: it will almost certainly be Ethiopia, an African diplomatic powerhouse.
