International: China
China gives EV sector billions of yuan in subsidies
25 Sep 2023
China's generosity to the electric vehicle sector when it comes to handing out subsidies has come under fresh scrutiny since the European commission announced an investigation into the matter.
China car sales grow in August, Tesla nearly doubles EV share
12 Sep 2023
China's passenger vehicle sales returned to growth in August year-on-year, as deeper discounts and tax breaks for environmentally friendly and electric vehicles boosted consumer sentiment even as economic growth remains weak.
At least 55 injured as Typhoon Saola makes landfall in China
5 Sep 2023
More than 50 people are injured and hundreds are seeking shelter after Typhoon Saola made landfall in China's Guangdong province early Saturday morning.
China’s summer of climate destruction
1 Sep 2023
China's summer this year has seen both extreme heat and devastating floods.
China has perfectly tangled the battery value chain with electric vehicles - a combo the US and Europe will find hard to beat
22 Aug 2023
Batteries are the single most valuable part of an electric vehicle (EV), representing 30–45% of the cost for light duty vehicles and ~50% for heavy duty.
China’s two climate directions
18 Aug 2023
While the U.S. and Europe have enacted sweeping policies to fight climate change in recent years, China has always had the potential to undermine those successes.
How China is using nuclear power to reduce its carbon emissions
16 Aug 2023
China recently approved the construction of six more nuclear reactors, cementing its status as the world’s fastest-growing nuclear power producer.
China avoids climate change discussion despite extreme weather
14 Aug 2023
Record heat and historic floods in China this summer have failed to ignite domestic public debate about how the world's top carbon polluter can mitigate climate change, leaving campaigners frustrated at an opportunity missed.
China: Typhoon Doksuri floods Beijing, thousands evacuated
1 Aug 2023
Authorities have issued the highest weather alert as Beijing is hit with the remnants of typhoon Doksuri.
Is China’s surge in coal consumption just a passing phase?
31 Jul 2023
China’s increase in coal use is inflicting damage on its green credentials, given its progress in developing renewable energy.
Carbon pricing to affect investments, survey claims
18 Jul 2023
The trading of carbon emission allowances in China is expected to increasingly affect investment decisions as the carbon price rises steadily, according to the 2022 China Carbon Pricing Survey report.
China power plants beef up production amid surging electricity demand
13 Jul 2023
Power plants have ramped up efforts to secure electricity supply, including increasing output at coal-fired power plants, in response to the surging demand due to a prolonged heat wave.
China is pumping out carbon emissions as if COVID never happened.
10 Jul 2023
Carbon emissions from China are growing faster now than before COVID-19 struck, dashing hopes the pandemic may have put the world’s most polluting nation on a new emissions trajectory.
Energy security: China doubles down on renewables and coal
3 Jul 2023
With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupting fossil fuel supplies and prices, global attention to energy security has heightened.
China’s solar is now at twice the capacity of its coal power – report
30 Jun 2023
Solar is growing at 33.7% year-on-year and is now at twice the capacity of coal power in China, according to a new report.
China study: clean energy switch could save thousands of lives, earn billions of dollars
27 Jun 2023
Industrial parks in China could cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 40% and avoid tens of thousands of premature deaths if they switched to clean energy earlier than a 2030 baseline scenario, a study has found.
Despite billions, China’s state-run agribusiness company still turns to deforesters
23 Jun 2023
Cofco is a state-run Chinese company with a mission of importing enough food to feed the country’s 1.4 billion people.
Chinese cities break heat records, stressing electricity grid
20 Jun 2023
Several cities in northern China broke heat records for June this week, with soaring temperatures straining the country's electricity supplies and leading authorities to hold mock emergency drills.
China carbon goals, green transition within reach
15 Jun 2023
China is capable of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions ahead of schedule while further accelerating the global transition to a low-carbon energy structure, as the country's non-fossil fuel energy sources have exceeded 50 percent of its total installed electricity generation capacity, industry experts said.
Confusion surrounds China’s pledged climate finance towards the Global South
8 Jun 2023
The delivery of a multi-billion climate fund pledged by China nearly eight years ago to support the Global South remains “unclear”, experts have told Climate Home News.
German climate envoy urges China to look beyond coal for energy-secure future
9 May 2023
China needs to seek alternative solutions to ensure its energy security, rather than relying on building new coal-fired power plants, according to Germany’s climate envoy.
China to ship climate change aids to developing nations
13 Apr 2023
China will soon ship a series of aids to three developing nations to help beef up their capabilities to cope with climate change, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.
China may meet solar, wind goals five years earlier
5 Apr 2023
China may reach its 2030 target for wind and solar energy development five years earlier than planned.
Biden’s landmark climate bill lures China’s clean energy giants
3 Apr 2023
China’s leading renewables firms are joining the rush to open factories in the U.S. after Washington passed a landmark climate bill that supports local clean energy manufacturing.
Legacy auto faces disaster in China with unsellable cars as pollution crunch looms
31 Mar 2023
We are currently witnessing a major disruption in the world’s largest car market, that will have massive implications for the biggest carmakers as they seek to manage the switch from fossil fuel vehicles to electric.
A warmer, wetter climate challenges a Chinese eco-farm
17 Mar 2023
In recent years, a new narrative has appeared on Chinese social media: that a warmer and wetter climate in Northwest China will herald a return to the “golden age” of the Tang dynasty (618–907 AD).
Chinese rice farming trials cut methane emissions
13 Mar 2023
In a mountain village in south-west China, the local people are playing a guessing game. A new climate-friendly way of growing rice is being trialed here that will reduce methane emissions. So, what’s the difference in yield between it and the conventional method?
China urged to place ‘wellbeing’ above GDP amid climate threat
24 Feb 2023
A team of influential economists has urged China to adopt a new development model based on “wellbeing” rather than gross domestic product (GDP) growth to fulfil its 2060 net-zero emissions goals and head off the mounting threats of climate change.
China: What the world’s largest food system means for climate change
21 Feb 2023
In 2019, China’s giant food system produced 1.9bn tonnes of CO2 equivalent – around the same as the total annual emissions of Russia, the world’s fourth largest polluter.
World’s largest onshore wind turbine, and the first to reach 10MW, debuts in China
15 Feb 2023
Chinese wind energy company Envision Energy has reportedly debuted a new 10MW onshore wind turbine, the largest of its kind and boasting the world’s largest rotor diameter.
China’s rice farming trials cut methane emissions and increase yields
9 Feb 2023
In a mountain village in south-west China, the local people are playing a guessing game. A new climate-friendly way of growing rice is being trialled here that will reduce methane emissions. So, what’s the difference in yield between it and the conventional method?
How will EU’s ‘green tariff’ impact China’s carbon market?
7 Feb 2023
European Union (EU) negotiators agreed in December to charge a carbon border tax on certain imports into the bloc, beginning in 2026.
China fast-tracking renewable energy
31 Jan 2023
China’s solar and wind power generating capacities are the largest in the world, accounting for more than 35% of the global total. As demand continues to grow to meet its climate goals, the need for storage facilities has also become critical to ensure a ready and consistent supply.
Climate-based tariffs by US, EU on Chinese steel and aluminium would ‘set a concerning precedent for China’
13 Dec 2022
The imposition of climate-based tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium – reportedly being considered by the United States and European Union – would set a concerning precedent for China, but the overall impact on those sectors should be limited, according to analysts.
China, covid and climate
1 Dec 2022
The protests erupting across China deserve international solidarity. The future of the planet could be determined by their success - or failure.
Should China be let off the hook for climate finance?
30 Nov 2022
The most important outcome of COP27, the climate summit in Egypt earlier this month, was the creation of a new UN-administered fund to compensate developing countries for the costs they incur from climate change-related disasters.
Hong Kong exchange carries out first carbon credit trades
25 Nov 2022
The Hong Kong stock exchange has carried out the first batch of carbon credit trades on its new voluntary carbon market, joining a handful of Asian exchanges in tapping opportunities resulting from governments' push to achieve climate goals.
The world's biggest source of clean energy is evaporating fast
27 Oct 2022
China’s Three Gorges Dam is an awe-inspiring sight, a vast barrier across the Yangtze River that contains enough concrete to fill seven Wembley Stadiums and more steel than eight Empire State Buildings. Its turbines could singlehandedly power the Philippines. But this summer, the world’s largest power plant was eerily quiet.
Our solar powered future is already China’s reality
6 Oct 2022
Atop the Tibetan plateau in Qinghai province, northern China, sits the Longyangxia Dam facility, a 27-square-kilometer solar farm that is filled with a sea of four million deep blue-colored photovoltaic panels.
China’s climate push could spawn new global players, even if Beijing falls short on its pledge
5 Oct 2022
Two years ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping formally announced the world’s second largest economy would strive for peak carbon emissions in 2030, and carbon neutrality in 2060. These ambitions are spawning companies that could one day become global leaders in their fields.
China tells Europe to not backslide on climate commitments
23 Sep 2022
China has accused some European nations of a “backswing” in the implementation of urgent climate change goals as geopolitical turmoil grips the continent.
China droughts highlight energy challenge as climate heats up
8 Sep 2022
Hotter weather is expected to push China's enormous energy consumption even higher in the coming years.
Sichuan uses 5000 solar panels to boost power supply
31 Aug 2022
A total of 5,000 solar panels were put into use at an expressway section linking Southwest China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces on Wednesday. The panels are expected to generate 4.22 million kilowatt hours (kW) annually, in an effort to boost power supply and ease the power crunch in the province.
China's unprecedented 70-day heatwave is breaking multiple records
24 Aug 2022
China's more than two-month long heatwave has dried up as many as 66 rivers, including the critical Yangtze River, the world's third longest waterway.
Chinese companies seek global carbon market for green hydrogen
9 Aug 2022
Three Chinese organisations are leading the charge to create an international carbon market for green hydrogen.
China releases plan to guide carbon-intensive industries to reach peak emissions by 2030
3 Aug 2022
Seven industrial sectors in China have been assigned targets to reduce energy consumption and boost recycling to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.
China greenlights carbon economy degree to aid its climate goals
27 Jul 2022
China’s climate commitments are making their way into the country’s university classrooms.
China to build more low-carbon communities
14 Jul 2022
China will encourage more residential communities to evolve into low-carbon ones as part of the country's efforts to meet its climate goals.
China’s domination of solar a risk to zero-carbon future: IEA
11 Jul 2022
Countries must lessen their dependence on China’s production of solar panels and dramatically boost manufacturing capacity to reach net-zero emissions, the International Energy Agency has said.
Shanghai to trial personal carbon accounts
8 Jul 2022
China is trying to tap the emissions reduction potential of personal consumption, and package such reductions as a class of carbon asset to be incorporated into the country’s growing carbon market.
Battery subsidy scheme set for 'urgent' overhaul as costs run out of control
Tue 16 Dec 2025
Australian Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced big changes to the government's battery subsidy scheme amid claims most of its $2.3 billion budget has been spent in just six months.
How climate change broke the Pacific Northwest’s plumbing
Tue 16 Dec 2025
Flooding in the Pacific Northwest has recently turned deadly serious, as days of intense rain from a powerful atmospheric river have swollen rivers and caused widespread flooding.
EU closes deal to slash green rules in major win for von der Leyen’s deregulation drive
10 Dec 2025
Controversial “omnibus” bill saw center-right EU lawmakers side with the far right to water down environmental standards.
Net-zero scenario is ‘cheapest option’ for UK, says energy system operator
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A scenario that meets the “net-zero by 2050” goal would be the “cheapest” option for the UK, according to modelling by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).
Top climate adviser resigns, says Canada doing worse 'than almost any other country'
Thu 11 Dec 2025
Catherine Abreu explains why she was one of two founding members to resign from Canada's Net-Zero Advisory Body last week, saying she 'could no longer, in conscience, sit on this government-appointed body' after policy rollbacks and oil subsidies in the Alberta energy MOU.
‘Not normal’: Climate crisis supercharged deadly monsoon floods in Asia
Fri 12 Dec 2025
Cyclones like those in Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia that killed 1,750 are ‘alarming new reality’.
Storms in the Southern Ocean are producing more rain – and the consequences could be global
8 Dec 2025
Storms in the Southern Ocean influence weather patterns across Australia, New Zealand and the globe.
Changes to polar bear DNA could help them adapt to global heating, study finds
Mon 15 Dec 2025
Scientists say bears in southern Greenland differ genetically to those in the north, suggesting they could adjust.
Are rainforests now a cause of, rather than the answer to, climate change?
Mon 15 Dec 2025
A new study finds that Africa’s forests, responsible for one-fifth of global carbon removal, are beginning to generate carbon as the result of human activity.
Thousands of climate disasters are not included in official reports from Amazonian countries
Fri 12 Dec 2025
More than 12,500 extreme weather events impacted the Amazon and its population in 10 years, but countries have not generated enough information about it, according to a new scientific study.
UN environment report 'hijacked' by US and others over fossil fuels, top scientist says
Thu 11 Dec 2025
A key UN report on the state of the global environment has been "hijacked" by the United States and other countries who were unwilling to go along with the scientific findings, the co-chair has told the BBC.
