China’s addition of new coal-fired power plants hurting global efforts to phase out dirty fossil fuel, report shows

China continues to lead the world in setting up new coal plants, commissioning more capacity than the rest of the world combined, which could hinder its aim to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060 and set back global efforts to phase out the dirty fossil fuel, a report found.

The world’s fleet of operating coal-fired plants grew by 18.2 gigawatts in 2021, mostly driven by China, according to the study released by non-profit research organisation Global Energy Monitor (GEM) on Tuesday. China alone added 25.2 gigawatts of new coal capacity in 2021, accounting for over half of the global total of 45GW, and almost offset the 26.8GW of coal plants retired in the rest of the world last year.