Editor’s Note: As the COP26 takes place this week, many leaders on climate action are pointing to China and calling on the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide gas to do more. This is the first of a series of reports on coal production and consumption by contributing writer Ramsha Zubairi.
China’s Climate Goals Are ‘Unimpressive,’ Observers Say
November 1, 2021—China is the biggest producer, consumer and importer of coal, and as the country’s economy continues to grow post-pandemic, its demand for the commodity moves in the upward direction.
That makes China’s absence from this year’s COP26 especially worrisome for climate activists.
With global climate change happening now, it is increasingly necessary to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. More than 70 percent of emissions are produced by energy production, with electricity accounting for more than half of those emissions, reported Phys Org. But electricity produced by coal around the world accounts for some 40 percent. Moreover, China remains the biggest consumer of coal globally.
“Coal-fired power plants, which account for about 40 percent of the total electricity today, need to be eliminated in two decades,” said Matthew Gidden, team lead for mitigation pathways at research NGO Climate Analytics.
What Would It Take?
“If you were to shut off China’s 1,082 coal-fired power plants at the rate needed to be in line with the Paris Agreement, one plant would need to close every week,” added Gidden.
Ahead of COP26, China’s Nationally Determined Contributions document stated its aim to reach peak carbon emissions before 2030 and net-zero before 2060. President Xi Jinping’s pledge in the document also included the country’s goal to increase its share of non-fossil fuels in primary energy consumption, reduction in carbon intensity, installation of wind and solar capacity and an increase in its forest stock volume.
China’s ‘Unimpressive’ Goals
According to climate observers, China’s goals remained unimpressive and it needed to improve its aims in order to reach its 2060 carbon neutrality goal.
“It was very encouraging that China recently pledged to stop building coal plants abroad, but the country also needs to take more actions domestically to rein in greenhouse gas emissions this decade,” said Helen Mountford, the vice-president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute. “If the world is going to have any chance of coming to grips with the climate crisis, China – as well as other major emitters – needs to graduate from taking small steps to giant leaps toward a cleaner and safer future.”
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Patti Mohr