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Report: The Belt and Road Is Becoming Greener as China Backs Away From Financing Coal Power Projects

by Eric Olander

China has a well-deserved reputation for being the financier of choice for coal-powered energy projects around the world. While many other development finance agencies have backed away in recent years from underwriting heavily polluting power plants, China seemingly went the other way.

Between 2014 and 2020, various Chinese entities were involved in financing $160 billion worth of coal-fired power plants outside of China, according to a new report published by the Green BRI Center at the International Institute of Green Finance in Beijing.

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