International: China
How is China faring at sustainability reporting?
28 Aug 2019
More of China’s vast corporations are opening up about their impact on the environment. But how real are their claims?
Warming worsens China's pollution problems
16 Aug 2019
Efforts to curb air pollution in China, a country already facing dire health impacts from high levels of soot and smog, will likely become increasingly difficult as the planet warms, a new study shows.
China makes way for even more coal mines
12 Aug 2019
Approvals for new coal mine construction in China have surged in 2019, with Beijing expecting consumption of the commodity to rise in the coming years.
China busily expanding its UN presence
8 Aug 2019
As the United States withdraws from the international arena, China is playing for dominance in United Nations spaces.
Can China electrify all new cars by 2030?
1 Aug 2019
Electric vehicles are taking off in China but a long road lies ahead before they displace conventional vehicles.
China likely to meet climate change goals early
31 Jul 2019
China appears to be on track to reach its carbon goals up to nine years earlier than planned under the Paris Agreement.
China succeeds in greening its economy
29 May 2019
From an appalling environmental scorecard 20 years ago, China has pioneered a “global green shift” towards renewable energy and recycling.
How China is redrawing the map of world science
7 May 2019
The Belt and Road Initiative, China’s mega-plan for global infrastructure, will transform the lives and work of tens of thousands of global researchers.
Coal deals go down at China’s ‘green’ summit
1 May 2019
Investment deals emerging from China’s belt and road summit show continued support for controversial coal projects, despite leaders’ green rhetoric.
China eyes nuclear fusion power by 2040
17 Apr 2019
China aims to complete and start generating power from an experimental nuclear fusion reactor by around 2040.
Chinese consumers ignore calls to eat less beef
5 Apr 2019
Despite increasing prices and evidence that too much beef is bad for health and the environment, the belief in China that eating red meat makes you strong persists and consumption is accelerating.
Can the world quench China’s thirst for milk?
1 Apr 2019
China’s leaders have championed milk as the emblem of a modern, affluent society – but their radical plan to triple the nation’s consumption will have a huge environmental cost.
China’s coal consumption on the rise
5 Mar 2019
China's use of coal increased again in 2018, raising questions about the Asian super power’s green energy transition.
China eyes solar power stations in space
25 Feb 2019
China wants to be the first country to launch power stations into space that capture the Sun’s energy and beam it back down to Earth.
Coal mining likely cause of China emissions rise
31 Jan 2019
Satellite data collected from 2010 to 2015 show that China's methane emissions increased unabated during that period and that the increase was most likely driven by coal mining.
China returns to Edison for power solution
29 Jan 2019
China’s response to the demand for electricity has been to use advanced transmission technology that can bridge vast distances – technology that, ironically, harks back to the earliest days of electric power.
There's no problem a billion cockroaches can't handle
18 Dec 2018
China is producing so much food waste it has had to come up with some out-of-the-box thinking — like using a billion cockroaches to take care of the problem.
SILENT REVOLUTION: It's all power to the e-bus in this city
14 Dec 2018
All 16,000 buses in the fast-growing Chinese megacity of Shenzhen are now electric, and soon all 22,000 taxis will be, too.
Pure electrics shine as China shows off cars of the future
6 Dec 2018
China has seen a bumper year for electric car sales, so it’s no surprise that a number “new energy vehicles”, as EVs are referred to in China, were the stars of the Guangzhou Auto Show.
China drags chain on emissions trading scheme
28 Nov 2018
China still needs to do a lot of work before it can fully launch its long-awaited nationwide carbon emissions trading scheme.
Mangroves are on the march
23 Nov 2018
Mangrove forests could be adapting to climate change by growing beyond their usual range, according to a recent study.
China faces pressure over illegal greenhouse gases
12 Nov 2018
China will be urged to crack down on illegal CFC-11 production under an international declaration set for adoption at a meeting in Ecuador this week.
Chinese city launching own moon to save on power bill
1 Nov 2018
A private aerospace institute in China plans to launch its own moon to save money on nightime lighting in a provincial city.
What the Chinese people think about climate change
28 Sep 2018
Ninety-four per cent of the public think China should be in the Paris climate deal, although many don’t know exactly what that means.
Just where on Earth is China's climate highway leading us?
20 Sep 2018
Triumph or catastrophe? Where will China’s climate path lead us all? So far there are both hopeful moves and warning signs, a new book says.
China cracks down on distant fishing fleets
11 Sep 2018
China’s fishery authorities have introduced hard-hitting punishments for overfishing and illegal fishing by the country’s distant fishing vessels.
Animal waste is turning China's lakes green
5 Sep 2018
Animal husbandry is contaminating China’s water and has been linked to turning lakes bright green, a phenomenon known as eutrophication.
China again starts building coal-fired plants
9 Aug 2018
Satellite imagery reveals that many coal-fired power projects that were halted by the Chinese government have quietly restarted.
New Chinese-led banks missing the point
2 Aug 2018
Both less than five years old, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and Brics Bank are failing to back sustainable development models.
Quite soon, this crowded part of China will be unsurvivable
2 Aug 2018
The deadliest place on the planet for extreme future heatwaves will be the north China plain, one of the most densely populated regions in the world and the most important food-producing area in the huge nation.
Why China must show stronger climate leadership
25 Jul 2018
A new report from Columbia University has provided a clear assessment of China’s role in responding to climate change.
Chinese lead green bonds charge
12 Jul 2018
China issued $30 billion in green bonds in 2017, remaining the world leader in the market.
China carbon emissions in retreat
5 Jul 2018
China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell from 2014 to 2016 and might already have peaked, according to a new study.
China's seafood boom will be felt globally
4 Jul 2018
Seafood consumption per capita in China has recently surpassed pork and that has repercussions for ocean ecosystems in the country and beyond.
China wants better clean-air standards
2 Jul 2018
China has signalled its intention to impose special emissions limits on some of most polluting and energy intensive sectors in the country.
China producing banned ozone-damaging chemicals
27 Jun 2018
China has been outed as the illegal producer of chemicals that damage the ozone layer and the climate.
China frets over 'blind' electric vehicle growth
20 Jun 2018
China will take action to curb the “blind” development of its rapidly growing electric vehicle sector, says a state planning spokeswoman.
China is the alternative universe of car industry
9 May 2018
A state-controlled economy is forcing the world's largest car market to embrace electric car solutions, and fast. Here's what China can tell us about the automotive future.
Coal pollution is poisoning China's rice
7 May 2018
Mercury pollution is a problem usually associated with fish consumption. But some people in China, the world’s largest mercury emitter, are exposed to more methylmercury from rice than they are from fish.
China's solar power boom can be seen from space
2 May 2018
China is the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, but it's also leading the world in clean energy investment and deployment.
Belt and Road will cost the environment
1 May 2018
China is aggressively trying to leverage on a trillion-dollar transportation and energy infrastructure construction programme that poses potential environmental impacts.
China builds a road so smart it will change the face of driving
16 Apr 2018
The road to China’s autonomous-driving future is paved with solar panels, mapping sensors and electric-battery rechargers as the nation tests an “intelligent highway” that could speed the transformation of the global transportation industry.
China makes a huge new green ministry
11 Apr 2018
China’s newly created mega-department, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, has absorbed the functions of many ministries and will boast a staff of about 500.
China has the boldest renewable energy plan
10 Apr 2018
The boldest plan to achieve the targets set by the 2015 Paris climate agreement comes from China.
US asks China to reconsider ban on foreign waste
28 Mar 2018
The US has requested China end its recent ban on receiving garbage from foreign countries, something it says is causing turmoil in the global market.
China could become a leader in green finance
27 Feb 2018
Experts gathered in London have argued over whether China could dominate the green financing market in years to come.
Has China's growth shaken free of carbon?
14 Feb 2018
The annual debate over whether China has peaked its greenhouse gas emissions faces a watershed moment.
How will China’s new carbon trading scheme work?
31 Jan 2018
China last month announced the initial details of its much- anticipated emissions trading scheme, following several years of regional pilot projects.
Why China wants to rule green-energy markets
23 Jan 2018
As other major powers find themselves in climate denial or atrophy, China might well boost its power and status by becoming the global energy leader of tomorrow.
Why coal city switched all 8000 taxis to electric
22 Jan 2018
Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province in China, replaced 8000 petrol-powered taxis with electric vehicles in a single year.
Aus power prices to fall for most customers, with bigger drops for businesses
Thu 28 May 2026
Surging levels of renewable energy and better reliability from coal-fired generators are set to give consumers a break, with benchmark power prices to fall up to 10 per cent for consumers and more for small businesses.
Revealed: huge climate cost of harmful emissions from US immigration flights
Thu 28 May 2026
US immigration enforcement flights are producing hundreds of thousands of metric tonnes of climate-damaging carbon emissions as officials shuttle unprecedented numbers of people to detention centers far from home and deport them to countries across the world.
Europe heatwave 'brutal reminder' of climate change: UN
Thu 28 May 2026
The UN climate chief said Wednesday that a record-breaking early heatwave scorching a swathe of western Europe was "a brutal reminder of the spiraling impacts of the climate crisis".
Britain ‘sleepwalking into a food crisis’ without urgent action, experts say
Fri 29 May 2026
Industry figures warn of national security risk and call for ministers to address the impact of extreme weather, inflation and Iran war.
Canada signs landmark LNG energy deal with Germany
Fri 29 May 2026
Canada has announced a landmark energy agreement with Germany that will see the first-ever long-term shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Canada to Europe in the coming years.
Indian city records 48.2C temperature as sizzling heatwave empties roads
26 May 2026
The India Meteorological Department forecast maximum temperatures Thursday of around 45 degrees Celsius in the capital, Delhi, where authorities have opened temporary “cooling zones” to help people cope.
The nation holding back the sea
22 May 2026
A Pacific island nation on the front line of the climate change threat is building land to try to hold back rising sea levels. But as the majority of Tuvalu’s population applies to relocate to Australia, a haunting question is being confronted: what happens to a country if the people have to leave?
‘Triple whammy of climate chaos’: Why Antarctica's sea ice collapse is no longer a mystery
11 May 2026
Scientists have finally identified the ‘triple whammy’ behind Antarctica’s dramatic collapse, shedding new light on the chain reaction that has pushed its sea ice to record lows.
Aid cuts and climate change drive deadly malaria surge in Zimbabwe
Fri 29 May 2026
A surge in malaria cases in Zimbabwe is exposing fragile health systems and growing treatment shortages in rural areas.
Colombia’s climate crossroads: Trumpism casts shadow over presidential battle
26 May 2026
Colombia is a global leader in climate activism. Could US influence drag country to a future of mining and fracking?
UN backs historic climate crisis ruling, despite US attempts to stop resolution
22 May 2026
The UN has voted 141-8 to adopt a resolution backing a world court opinion that countries have a legal obligation to address climate change, with the US – which is the world’s biggest historical emitter – among the small group opposing it.
