"China last year began construction on projects with the greatest combined coal power capacity since 2015," AFP reported, citing a report from the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) in the US, questioning China's commitment to peak carbon emissions by 2030.
Needless to say, such skepticism regarding China's green transition and its efforts to reduce carbon emissions is misplaced. The report focused primarily on the newly added coal power capacity in the context of short-term fluctuations driven by economic activity, and failed to capture the broader scope of China's massive energy transition.
The increase in China's coal power projects mentioned in the AFP report took place mainly in the second half of 2024. Looking at the bigger picture, the CREA-GEM report also showed that the number of China's new permits for coal power projects fell 83 percent in the first half of 2024, prompting optimism that China's clean energy transition was gathering pace.
Moreover, the increase in coal power generation in China during the same period was far less than the growth of renewable energy generation. While China began construction on 94.5 gigawatts of coal power projects in 2024, China also added a record 356 gigawatts of wind and solar capacity - 4.5 times the EU's additions, the report said.
The increase in China's coal power generation in the second half of 2024 corresponded to short-term demand fluctuations. In the second half of 2024, China intensified the implementation of incremental policies to bolster economic activities, which have likely driven up demand for electricity.
More importantly, despite the growth in electricity generation from coal, China's carbon emissions did not increase in the third quarter of 2024. An analysis by Carbon Brief, based on official and commercial data, indicates that the figures for the third quarter suggested that China's total carbon emissions for the year may still have declined. After China's carbon dioxide emissions decreased in the second quarter of 2024, carbon dioxide emissions in the third quarter remained flat or slightly lower compared with the same period last year, according to Carbon Brief.
This fully demonstrates that while China is building some new coal-fired power plants, it is also gradually phasing out outdated coal power capacity. Looking at the overall capacity of coal power, a more accurate statement would be that China is upgrading its coal power plants. World-leading coal power technology is what gives China the confidence to build new coal-fired power plants. The commissioning of new plants and the closing of old ones are beneficial for the continuous optimization of China's coal power structure.
All of these clearly show that China has consistently and unwaveringly been advancing its commitment to carbon emissions reduction through concrete actions, fulfilling its responsibilities in the international collective response to climate change. In August 2024, China released a white paper titled "China's Energy Transition," which objectively highlighted China's significant contributions to the global green transition.
Over the past decade, China's annual newly installed renewable energy capacity has accounted for more than 40 percent of the global total. Through continuous technological innovation, a complete industrial chain, robust market competition, and a vast market scale, China has rapidly developed its new-energy industry, significantly driving down the costs of global wind and solar power generation, according to the document.
Admittedly, all countries face challenges in their efforts to reduce carbon emissions, let alone a massive developing country like China. And yet, China has set ambitious "dual carbon" goals and has steadfastly made efforts to reach those goals, which have already yielded positive results.
In stark contrast, the new US administration has withdrawn from global climate action and has moved to end all efforts to tackle climate change. The international community should be clear-eyed about this and jointly pressure the US to fulfil its responsibilities, instead of promoting biased claims against China.
