This week’s big environmental stories from March 4-10
To shore up domestic energy supply in light of turbulence in the global
market, China will further increase coal output, stabilising it at 12 million
tonnes per day, the National Development and Reform Commission announced during
the Two Sessions.
If this target is achieved, it will mean an annual output of 4.38 billion
tonnes, a 6% increase on 2021’s 4.13 billion. The same day, the head of the
National Energy Administration said the agency
will ramp up oil and gas production too.
The Government Work Report presented at the Two Sessions reiterates calls for
China’s decarbonisation to be achieved in an “orderly” manner. It emphasises
securing energy supplies with consideration for the country’s “natural
endowments”, meaning an abundance of coal and a general lack of gas and oil.
The annual meeting coincided with imported gas and oil prices surging due to
the war in Ukraine.
In keeping with the emphasis on energy security, “clean and efficient
utilisation” of coal and measures to maintain a role for coal power in the
energy system were both high on the agenda.
In his address to the
delegation from Inner Mongolia, President Xi stressed the importance of better
pacing the decarbonisation push and improving coordination at the national
level. This implied a more flexible approach to energy consumption caps, in
which some provinces (like coal-rich Inner Mongolia) can burn more fossil fuels
while others make deeper cuts. “We need a clean and green environment,” he
said, “but at the same time we also need to ensure that business and production
can be carried out normally.”
(Sources: China Dialogue)
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