China’s President Xi Jinping on Monday said his country would not build new coal-fired power plants abroad, marking a significant shift for the world’s top greenhouse gas emitter. Xi did not provide further details about the plan, but it could significantly reduce funding of coal plants in developing countries. Beijing has been under pressure, including from US climate envoy John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, to end its financing in overseas coal projects. Previously, Japan and South Korea also announced similar moves.
Xi also said that China would step up efforts to support developing nations to develop green and low-carbon energy. In response, Kerry welcomed China’s move calling it an important decision and a “great contribution” to start to efforts required to achieve the global climate targets. Guterres also welcomed the pledge, saying speeding up the phaseout of coal is the most crucial step to reach the target under the Paris Agreement.
However, China is expected to remain reliant on coal to power its economy. A report by Global Energy Monitor showed China commissioned 38.4 GW of new coal-fired power capacity in 2020, compared to 37.8 GW decommissioned elsewhere in the world. The report said that China accounted for 76% of global coal-fired power generation capacity added last year. By comparison, India, in the second spot, only added 2 GW of capacity, just 5.2% of China’s capacity expansion. China has 88.1 GW of coal-fired plants under construction, nearly half of the global total. Another 158.7 GW is under planning, also almost half of the global total.
