As the first details of China’s five-year plan targets for 2025 are expected to emerge from the Chinese Communist Party plenum, how do we track the level of ambition on energy and climate based on the targets? Progress on clean energy is a given in China’s 5-year plans – not least because the government like […]
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China floats modest air quality targets for the winter as smog raises its ugly head
As the first bouts of winter smog have reached Beijing, the country’s environmental ministry has published draft air quality action plans for the winter. The plans include air quality targets to be met by each target area, as well as detailed measures to be taken, such as controlling emissions from unregulated small industries, retrofitting steel […]
Influential academics reveal how China can achieve its ‘carbon neutrality’ goal
China’s electricity system would need to reach net-zero CO2 emissions by 2050 if the country is to meet its recently announced target of “carbon neutrality” before 2060. This is one of the key insights from new scenarios and policy recommendations for meeting the goal, published separately by two leading – and highly influential – Chinese […]
Analysis: China’s Covid stimulus plans for fossil fuels three times larger than low-carbon
China’s main energy-consuming and producing provinces are directing the equivalent of hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel projects, analysis of spending plans reveals. If the investments go ahead, they would exceed spending plans for low-carbon energy threefold. The findings are from our new analysis of the “major project lists” for eight Chinese provinces, […]
China’s 2060 climate pledge: long-awaited breakthrough or sugar-coating another decade of rising emissions?
In a surprise announcement at the UN General Assembly, chairman Xi declared that China will aim to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 – the earlier pledge was for emissions to peak “around” 2030 with no word of what would happen after. While any increase in ambition is a positive signal, the upcoming five-year plan will be a key test of what the new pledge means in practice.
Weather-correction of air pollution – Application to COVID-19
[Methodology note] Air pollution levels are generally determined by two main factors: emissions and weather conditions. The latter are known to affect air quality in various ways: dispersion, precipitation or the facilitation of chemical reactions. This impact of weather creates uncertainty when it comes to understanding the effect of policies on air quality, or, for […]
Revealing the Cost of Air Pollution in World’s Cities – in Real Time
Health damage from air pollution cost between 0.4% and 6% of annual GDP in the world’s leading cities on the first half of 2020, due to increased risks of chronic illnesses, asthma, work absences, preterm births and many other health impacts. CREA has worked with AirVisual and Greenpeace to release an online tool that tracks […]
Analysis: China’s CO2 emissions surged past pre-coronavirus levels in May
China’s CO2 emissions have surged back from the coronavirus lockdown, rising by 4-5% year-on-year in May, analysis of new government data shows. Emissions fell an estimated 25% in the six weeks following the lockdown, from early February to mid-March, before bottoming out, as factories and power plants reduced output. Road and air traffic also fell […]
BRIEFING: Coal pollution costs Europeans billions of euros despite drop in emissions
This CREA briefing looks into the five most polluting coal power plant operators in the EU in 2018, the health impacts of each of these as well as the economic losses. Despite air pollutant emissions in the EU being half of what they were in 2010, the effects that the remaining coal power plants have […]
BRIEFING: Air pollution returns to European capitals: Paris faces largest rebound
A new CREA assessment of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) air pollution levels in European capitals shows how pollution is rebounding as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Paris has experienced the largest increase in pollution from the cleanest period during lockdown, while Budapest and Oslo have exceeded their pre-crisis levels, when controlling for weather. The return of pollution […]