China emissions

The seeds for China’s current climate change strategy – for better or for worse – were laid with the Kyoto Protocol 25 years ago.

Xi has made big promises on China's emissions and energy mix, but his work report at the 20th Party Congress suggests neither is a top priority.

The re-emphasis on coal is a setback to efforts to cut emissions, as it “locks China into a more high-carbon path.”

In Glasgow, China’s representatives argued rich states must fulfill promises to support poorer nations’ green capacity development, even while power shortages call China’s own promises into question.

As China projects its power abroad and readies to join the club of high-income countries, its climate ambitions can no longer hide behind the veil of development.

More global efforts are needed from China, Japan, and South Korea to keep temperature increases below 1.5 degree Celsius. 

China’s embrace of electric vehicles and the hydrogen economy is also about reducing its reliance on foreign energy sources.

Insights from Frank Haugwitz