China will start phasing down coal use from 2026 as part of its efforts to slash greenhouse gas emissions, President Xi Jinping said at a summit of global leaders, a move that disappointed campaigners hoping for more ambitious pledges.
Xi, speaking via video link to the Leaders Summit on Climate convened by US President Joe Biden, said China was committed to green development and upgrading its coal-dependent energy system, a major source of climate-warming emissions.
"We will strictly limit the increase in coal consumption over the 14th five-year plan period (2021-25) and phase it down in the 15th five-year plan period (2026-30)," he said on Thursday.
Xi's comments mean that China's coal consumption, by far the highest in the world, will reach a peak in 2025 and start to fall thereafter.
Read the full article published in the Jimboomba Times 23rd April 2021