If China were serious about reducing emissions, that intent would have been evident from its new five-year plan for the years 2021-2025, released in March. This plan, however, has been described as containing little more than vague commitments to tackle carbon dioxide emissions.
As the
Wall Street Journal wrote in an editorial in February, initiatives like this explain why Beijing loves Biden and Paris . They allow China, in the words of the editorial, to get a free carbon ride meaning unfettered economic growth at a time when China is looking to become the world s dominant economic and technological power.
China approved its five-year goals on Thursday (11 March), but the world’s biggest polluter shows little ambition of moving away from fossil fuels, leaving much to be decided.
Every five years, China produces its economic and social objectives. The fourteenth plan was highly anticipated as the first since it pledged to peak emissions by 2030 and reach net zero by 2060.
But hopes that the country, which is responsible for 26% of global greenhouse gas emissions, would set ambitious climate targets were dashed by the plan, which lays out a steady, but slow course towards net zero.
“It’s disappointing that China is placing such a large focus on continuing its reliance on coal, and oil and gas. The world is relying on its largest emitter to step up on climate change – yet we see little of such action in this plan,” said Bill Hare, chief executive at Climate Analytics, a non-profit science and policy institute.
SIXTH TONE
SIXTH TONE
Untangling the Crossed Wires of China’s ‘Super Grid’
Ultra-high voltage power lines are crucial to a greener future, but world leader China’s growing network has hit its fair share of snags.
SHANGHAI With few coal reserves to call its own and winter rains too erratic to rely on hydropower, central China’s Hunan province had long faced frequent electricity blackouts, an annoyance to residents and a hindrance to economic growth. So when an ultra-high voltage power line was approved in 2015, hopes were high.
The new UHV connection, infrastructure capable of carrying large amounts of electricity over long distances, would run all the way from the energy-rich Jiuquan region in northwestern Gansu province, and bring in enough coal, wind, and solar power to answer a quarter of Hunan’s energy needs.