China plans to build more coal-fired power plants and has hinted that it will rethink its timetable to slash emissions, in a significant blow to the UK’s ambitions for securing a global agreement on phasing out coal at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.
In a statement after a meeting of Beijing’s National Energy Commission, the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, stressed the importance of regular energy supply, after swathes of the country were plunged into darkness by rolling blackouts that hit factories and homes.
What I find a bit strange about this is that apparently the recent power outages were due to a coal supply problem. One of the main coal mining area in China had massive flooding problems (due to climate change) and the main nearby global producer, Australia, is currently unwilling to make up for that shortage in China due to political disagreements.
Normally that would make you think that the logical solution is to reduce coal usage even faster, which is what the CCP did announce two weeks ago… so this flip-flop is a bit strange. Maybe just a message aimed at their domestic audience that doesn’t want any further power cuts…