International: China
China’s Alibaba pledges carbon neutrality by 2030
20 Dec 2021
Alibaba Group will aim to achieve carbon neutrality in its own operations and slash emissions across its supply chains and transportation networks by the end of the decade, the Chinese e-commerce giant pledged on Friday.
China's carbon emissions fall for first time since COVID lockdowns: report
26 Nov 2021
China's CO2 emissions fell in the third quarter for the first time since the country reopened from COVID-19 lockdowns, research published Thursday showed, in what experts said could mark a carbon "turning point" for the country.
China creates vast research infrastructure to support ambitious climate goals
23 Nov 2021
China, the world’s top carbon emitter, has for the first time published plans broadly outlining how it might achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, and a peak of emissions before 2030 — promises it made in 2019.
Don’t be too critical on China for changing pledge on coal: EU climate chief
18 Nov 2021
The EU’s climate chief told CNBC that he “wouldn’t be too critical of China” when it comes to assessing negotiations at the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
With models under $5,000, China accounts for half the world's electric car sales
22 Oct 2021
Soaring sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in China are driving the global trend away from combustion engines, the latest figures show.
China's coal convulsion threatens climate goals
13 Oct 2021
China's energy crisis is a wild card in the fraught efforts to secure a meaningful deal at the UN climate summit in Glasgow.
China to set up standards of carbon neutrality
11 Oct 2021
China is planning to set up and improve the standards of carbon peak and neutrality, according to an official outline published last week.
China's belt and road policies could hurt environment and indigenous communities
28 Sep 2021
A new study has found that up to 60% of China's development projects pose a threat to indigenous communities and the environment.
China signs up to hydrofluorocarbons treaty
23 Sep 2021
China began enforcing the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol last week—and the climate implications are huge
China to stop funding overseas coal projects
23 Sep 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said that China would no longer fund the construction of new coal-fired power projects overseas, surprising the world on climate for the second straight year at the United Nations General Assembly.
Climate experts fear Aukus will dash hopes of China emissions deal
17 Sep 2021
The timing of the new defence deal between the US, UK and Australia has dismayed climate experts, who fear it could have a negative effect on hopes of a deal with China on greenhouse gas emissions ahead of vital UN climate talks.
China has carbon neutral goals, but at local level old habits die hard
30 Aug 2021
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.
China to increase carbon sinks in the ocean
27 Aug 2021
China's environmental authority vowed on Thursday to promote the capability of carbon sinks in the ocean as a key part of the country's efforts to confront climate change and fulfill its goals to achieve carbon peak before 2030.
China’s new carbon trading market isn’t working
24 Aug 2021
The price of emissions credits in China’s carbon trading market reached a record low on Aug. 20, the latest sign that the market’s structural flaws are preventing it from working as an effective weapon against climate change.
China's carbon market records its first cross-border deal
16 Aug 2021
Even as trading on China's national carbon market dwindled away in its first month to next to nothing, one sign of life emerged this week in the form of an unusual cross-border deal for a voluntary form of carbon emission credits.
China avoids coal projects in Belt and Road for first time
28 Jul 2021
China didn't finance any coal projects via its Belt and Road Initiative in the first half, the first time that's happened since the plan was launched in 2013, the International Institute of Green Finance said in a report.
Introducing China’s carbon market
23 Jul 2021
Last week, China announced the launch of its national carbon emissions trading market. How does it work?
China's carbon market tops 210 million yuan in first-day trading
19 Jul 2021
China's national carbon market, the largest emissions trading system in the world, made its debut on Friday with a turnover of 210 million yuan for carbon dioxide emissions on the first day
China to launch ETS this month
15 Jul 2021
China is set to launch its carbon emissions trading scheme this month.
China's extreme weather warnings avoid talk of climate change
14 Jul 2021
As unprecedented heatwaves sweep across large parts of the Northern Hemisphere, China is telling its people to brace for another summer of dangerous floods and droughts.
Powerful Chinese agency put in charge of climate change
7 Jul 2021
China’s top economic planning body has been put in charge of devising a plan for the world’s biggest polluter to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Fact check: Is China the main climate change culprit?
1 Jul 2021
China currently releases more carbon emissions than any other country — leading many to believe it bears the greatest responsibility for climate change. However, the situation is more complex than it seems.
The US$2000 EV ute
15 Jun 2021
In the wake of the Government's feebate announcement, there's been plenty of talk about the lack of EV utes, but as MotorBiscuit reports there's always the niftily named CLZKC-009, costing just US$2000.
China tempers climate change efforts
10 Jun 2021
China’s top economic planners have put the brakes on attempts by environmental officials to reduce carbon emissions as driving growth takes priority over meeting climate targets for now.
China to launch carbon trading market next month
27 May 2021
China plans to launch a nationwide carbon trading market by June, an official said on Wednesday, showing strengthening efforts to reach the country's ambitious goal of net-zero emissions by 2060.
Greening the world's largest energy grid
20 May 2021
One of the most pressing challenges for China to meet its pledge to cap carbon emissions this decade and pivot toward renewables is overhauling its electricity grid, the world’s largest, officials and analysts say.
Solar panel industry uses forced Uyghur labour
17 May 2021
China's Xinjiang region has evolved over the past two decades into a major production hub for many of the companies that supply the world with parts needed to build solar panels.
China slams European border levy proposal
20 Apr 2021
Chinese President Xi Jinping slammed the European Union’s plan for a carbon border levy in a call with the leaders of France and Germany on Friday (16 April), according to state media.
The decline of coal in China
9 Apr 2021
When President Xi Jinping committed China to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060 at the UN General Assembly, this was good news for many, including electric vehicle manufacturers and the renewable energies industries. One sector that stands to lose is the coal industry.
Bitcoin emissions threaten China's climate targets
8 Apr 2021
China powers nearly 80 per cent of the global cryptocurrencies trade, but the energy required could jeopardise its pledge to peak carbon emissions by 2030.
China to cut energy intensity, but no consumption cap
8 Mar 2021
China will cut energy intensity but has stopped short of setting a cap on energy use in its new development plan.
China’s dirty covid-19 recovery
2 Mar 2021
Official Chinese government figures show energy, steel and cement consumption rose in 2020, pushing emissions up as Beijing is expected to reveal its 2025 targets.
China’s energy agency floats increase in renewables target
12 Feb 2021
China’s National Energy Administration is considering an increase in the ambition of the country’s clean energy programme this decade.
China’s crackdown on illegal CFC gases is working
11 Feb 2021
A Chinese government crackdown on producers and buyers of illegal CFC gases is working, research has found.
China might ban coal-power investment abroad
4 Dec 2020
China’s environment ministry is proposing a crackdown on state involvement in building coal power plants abroad, in a report co-authored with international green groups.
European states ordered to respond to climate suit
1 Dec 2020
The European court of human rights has ordered 33 European governments to respond to a landmark climate lawsuit lodged by six youth campaigners, the Guardian has learned.
China to force firms to report use of plastic in new recycling push
1 Dec 2020
Restaurants, e-commerce platforms and delivery firms will be forced to report their utilisation of single-use plastics to the authorities and also submit formal recycling plans, China's commerce ministry said in proposals published on Monday.
China hits out at US climate record
20 Oct 2020
China has slammed the United States’ environmental and climate record, in an extraordinary public attack less than two weeks before Americans go to the polls.
How China can be carbon-neutral by 2060
20 Oct 2020
Three weeks after China told the world it is aiming for carbon neutrality, an important study outlines a roadmap to that goal, and challenges along the way.
China's new climate goal could transform global heating
30 Sep 2020
If China hits its new emissions goal of going carbon-neutral before 2060, it will bring down global warming projections by around 0.2deg to 0.3 degrees Celsius, says Carbon Action Tracker.
China considers going ‘carbon neutral’, peaking emissions
18 Sep 2020
China is considering carbon neutrality as part of its long term climate plan, the country’s foreign ministry announced following a summit with EU leaders.
Petrochina pledges emissions cut
31 Aug 2020
Chinese oil and gas company PetroChina is promising to cut greenhouse gas emissions as falling oil prices caused a first-half net loss of $US4.36 billion.
Nitrous oxide from 11 Chinese plants a potential climate catastrophe
10 Aug 2020
Emissions controls worked perfectly at Chinese plants, until the Clean Development Mechanism dried up.
UN chief confronts China over coal boom,
24 Jul 2020
UN secretary-general António Guterres has urged China to stop funding coal projects, warning the Paris climate agreement goals will slip out of reach if the world fails to deliver a green recovery to covid-19.
China’s Erin Brockovich goes global to stop China
22 Jun 2020
Environment lawyer Zhang Jingjing has worked in 20 countries since 2015 to help clean up or shut down Chinese-owned mines, power plants or industrial projects.
Why is there so much furore over China’s Belt and Road?
2 Jun 2020
There were certainly questions asked when Victoria first signed a memorandum of understanding to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative in 2018, but it wasn’t until the past week that the criticism reached a fever pitch.
Belt and Road backers failing to protect nature
12 May 2020
The financial backers of China’s Belt and Road Initiative are being accused of failing to require safeguards to protect nature.
China's greenhouse emissions rise 2.6%
19 Mar 2020
China’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 2.6 per cent in 2019 despite a fall in the share of coal in the country’s energy mix, driven by a rise in energy consumption and greater use of oil and gas.
What’s holding back China’s bamboo furniture makers?
24 Feb 2020
Wood consumption has jumped 173 per cent in China over the past decade, and restrictions on felling primary forest mean the country relies on wood imports for over half its demand.
Coronavirus cuts China’s CO2 emissions
21 Feb 2020
As China battles one of the most serious virus epidemics of the century, the impacts on the country’s energy demand and emissions are only beginning to be felt.
Darwin methane leak ‘covered up’ by gas companies and regulators
Tue 2 Sep 2025
At the heart of the project that heralded northern Australia’s gas boom — Darwin’s first liquefied natural gas plant — was a storage tank that operators hailed as a major feat of engineering.
The merchants of doubt are back
Today 12:15pm
OPINION: If you don’t follow climate policy closely, you might not know that the Trump administration is launching an effort to overturn one of the most fundamental pillars of American climate policy.
EU’s record wildfire emissions highlight threat to forest carbon sinks
Mon 1 Sep 2025
As carbon emissions from forest fires spike in Europe, experts warn that wildfires pose a growing risk to national efforts to meet climate goals.
UK Conservatives pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea
Tue 2 Sep 2025
Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party will remove all net zero requirements on oil and gas companies drilling in the North Sea if elected.
Challenges persist in bid to mine the deep sea, even after boost from Trump
29 Jul 2025
After years of delay, the deep-sea mining plans of Canadian firm The Metals Company (TMC) now appear to be progressing as it pursues a controversial new path to securing a license to mine in international waters under U.S. jurisdiction.
Singapore seals carbon credit deal with Thailand, its first South-east Asian partner
Thu 28 Aug 2025
The agreement, the eighth for Singapore, helps both nations meet climate targets under the Paris Agreement, directing finance to Thai projects.
Rise in dengue fever outbreaks across the Pacific driven by the climate crisis, experts say
13 Aug 2025
Samoa, Fiji and Tonga among the worst affected amid warning the disease and others will become ‘more common and more serious’ as the planet warms.
Iconic Antarctic species at risk amid 'regime shift', with 'rapid and self-perpetuating changes'
22 Aug 2025
Scientists say there is emerging evidence of abrupt and potentially unstoppable changes in the Antarctic environment.
Liberia has a new plan to protect its rainforests. Can it work?
Tue 2 Sep 2025
Half of West Africa’s remaining rainforests are in Liberia, but in 2024, it lost more than 38,000 hectares (94,000 acres) of humid primary forest, according to Global Forest Watch.
Lessons from the Incas: How llamas, terraces and trees could help the Andes survive climate change
Thu 28 Aug 2025
New research suggests solutions may lie in environmental knowledge that the Incas and their predecessors developed centuries ago.
Brazil issues last-ditch plea for countries to submit climate plans ahead of COP30
20 Aug 2025
Only 28 countries have submitted carbon-cutting proposals to the UN, with some of the biggest emitters yet to produce plans.
