Taiwanese newspaper Commercial Times recently reported that, in response to the tight power supply situation, the Chinese government has asked coal companies to increase their mining production. China’s coal production this year is expected to increase by 220 million tons, exceeding the annual mining output of all of Western Europe and hitting the global carbon reduction target. This happened while the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) debuted in Glasgow, Scotland. Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping did not attend COP26. Currently, China is the world’s largest carbon emitter. A few weeks ago, due to the shortage of the coal supply, China experienced widespread power cuts, which paralyzed many industrial cities. Now a “Supply Guarantee” has become a national slogan across Chinese media and among government announcements. Before the current official government requirements to accelerate coal production, China’s coal mining and consumption had already exceeded the rest of the world’s coal production combined. This will cause a huge loss to the global efforts to respond to climate change.
Source: Commercial Times, October 31, 2021
https://ctee.com.tw/news/china/540592.html