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Backgrounder: The Fine Print of China’s No-Coal Pledge

by Cobus van Staden
The Hwange coal-fired power plant in Zimbabwe, where a Chinese-built expansion was unveilved in August. Image: Zingyange Auntony / AFP

In 2021, China’s President Xi Jinping announced that China would stop funding and building coal-fired power plants overseas. After the announcement, Chinese companies canceled about forty coal power projects.

However, a similar number are still in limbo. If built, they would produce 245 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, about the same as Spain’s total emissions.

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