As the world’s largest carbon emitter, China has been under considerable diplomatic pressure to end its sustained expansion of coal projects. In the first half of 2021, the country committed to a series of carbon-intensive steel and coal projects – 18 new blast furnaces and 43 new coal plant units – which could collectively emit carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the Netherlands.
Now, Xi has promised an end to foreign coal-fired projects, following similar moves by South Korea and Japan earlier this year. China has been under pressure by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and US climate envoy John Kerry to follow with its own commitment. The three countries collectively account for more than 95 per cent of all foreign financing for coal-fired plants.
As an end to coal financing could make it considerably harder to kickstart projects in the developing world to expand power capacity and sustain economic growth, Xi added that China...