International: China
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.
China’s top climate negotiator steps down
13 Dec 2019
What is the legacy of Xie Zhenhua, a key architect of the Paris Agreement and one of the world’s longest-serving climate diplomats?
China's energy-sector emissions still on the rise
15 Nov 2019
China’s energy-sector emissions are expected to increase this year and next, driven by rising oil and gas consumption instead of by coal.
How can China tame e-commerce emissions?
30 Oct 2019
China is ground zero of the e-commerce boom, which is creating a growing mountain of waste and fuelling carbon emissions worldwide.
China’s tree-planting drive could backfire
27 Sep 2019
China has been warned that its tree-planting drive to hold back deserts could strain water resources.
UN confident China will raise climate ambition
12 Sep 2019
China is expected to come to the UN climate action summit with a more ambitious climate plan, a top UN official believes.
ELECTROCULTURE: How China is trying to spark up crop yields
30 Aug 2019
Across China, scientists are exposing lettuces and cucumbers to powerful electric fields in an attempt to make them grow faster.
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.
“It’s by stealth, isn’t it?” The multi-million dollar effort by Australian fossil fuel companies to get into schools
Thu 16 Jul 2026
Australian oil, gas and coal companies want to get into school to shape what kids learn about their industry and climate change. One group has been trying to map the scale of the problem.
Over 1,600 energy department webpages on utility bill savings removed as US temperatures soar
Fri 17 Jul 2026
As millions of Americans prepare for another brutal heatwave, it’s now harder to find information about ways to stay cool while saving energy and keeping utility costs down.
1,000 evacuated from Fontainebleau fires near Paris; Spanish authorities identify some fire victims
Thu 16 Jul 2026
Bigger fires have been ravaging areas of southern France, but the Fontainebleau fire is exceptionally close to the densely populated region surrounding the French capital.
UK withdraws millions in funding from world’s second-largest rainforest in Congo
Fri 17 Jul 2026
The UK has abandoned projects worth tens of millions of pounds that were meant to help protect Congo rainforests and support local people.
Canadian wildfire smoke chokes Toronto, threatens US cities
Fri 17 Jul 2026
Toronto's air quality ranked the worst among major cities globally on Wednesday as wildfire smoke from northwestern Ontario blackened skies and spread into the northeastern United States, prompting health warnings and calls for residents to limit outdoor activities.
India is adding biofuels to petrol – but many drivers are unhappy
Thu 16 Jul 2026
India's decision to increase the share of biofuels blended with petrol is facing ire from motorists who question its viability in a market where a majority of vehicles are not yet designed for it.
‘Those blocking climate science are not our friends': Pacific leaders warn at Bonn talks
23 Jun 2026
Pacific nations and civil society groups have united at UN climate talks, pushing back against efforts to weaken agreed language on global temperature limits as negotiations continue behind closed doors.
Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average
16 Jun 2026
A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’.
Africa secures $900 million in new clean cooking commitments
Mon 13 Jul 2026
African countries have secured $900 million in new financial commitments to expand access to clean cooking technologies, which replace polluting fuels with cleaner alternatives, said the International Energy Agency.
Under Lula, Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level in a decade
Tue 14 Jul 2026
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level in a decade during the first half of 2026, according to official government figures.
COP31 president says electrification is ‘surest way to protect citizens’
Tue 14 Jul 2026
Last month, COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum launched a target for 35% of the world’s final energy to come from electricity by 2035. In an interview with Carbon Brief, Kurum says that the target was not a political choice, but instead reflects the latest evidence on “what is needed to keep 1.5C within reach”.
