China’s coal power emissions per capita grew more than any other G20 country between 2015 and 2022, report finds

The increase of 0.72 tonnes per head was the highest among the 20 biggest economies, though Turkey’s and Indonesia’s rose more in percentage terms
It was enough to make China the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide from coal power on a per capita basis, behind Australia and South Korea

Business of climate change

Yujie Xuein Shenzhen

Published: 9:00am, 5 Sep 2023

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China’s harmful emissions from coal power increased more than any other G20 country on a per capita basis between 2015 and 2022, according to a report published today by Ember, a climate think tank.

While most of the planet’s 20 largest economies managed to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide they churn out by using coal to generate electricity, China emitted 3.10 tonnes per head of population last year, up 30 per cent from 2.38 tonnes in 2015, the report found.

The increase of 0.72 tonnes was the highest among the six G20 countries whose emissions went up in the seven-year period, though Turkey’s and Indonesia’s rose more in percentage terms.

It was enough to make China the third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide from coal power on a per capita basis, behind Australia and South Korea on 4.14 tonnes and 3.27 tonnes respectively. China was ranked the sixth-highest emitter in 2015.

The nation’s per-person emissions last year were almost double the 1.6 tones average across G20 members, and virtually three times the average of 1.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted by every person worldwide.

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Twelve of the Group of 20 nations saw their per capita emissions decline as they shifted towards clean energy sources.

Australia and South Korea remained the top emitters in 2022, despite achieving reductions of 26 per cent and 10 per cent respectively since 2015.

“China and India are often blamed as the world’s big coal power polluters. But when you take population into account, South Korea and Australia were the worst polluters still in 2022,” said Dave Jones, global insights lead at Ember.

“As mature economies, they should be scaling up renewable electricity ambitiously and confidently enough to enable coal to be phased out by 2030.”

However, China’s substantial increase is also worrisome.

“I think the main concern is what this country’s ranking will look like in the future. Australia and South Korea’s coal power will fall substantially this decade, soon leaving China at the top of ranking,” said Jones. “The next countries [ranked by per capita emissions] – South Africa, Japan, the US and Germany – will also fall, leaving a very large gap between China and the rest of the world, unless China makes significant progress to cut coal power itself.”

India’s coal power emissions rose from 0.62 tonnes per person in 2015 to 0.80 tonnes seven years later, Ember found.

But things may have got worse. This summer, the country has stepped up its use of the fossil fuel to generate electricity in a bid to stop outages caused by lower hydroelectricity output, and as an increase in renewables is struggling to keep pace with record power demand, according to Reuters.

The driest August in more than a century resulted in power generation surging to a record 162.7 billion kilowatt hours (units), a Reuters analysis of data from the federal grid operator showed. Coal’s share in power output rose to 66.7 per cent in August, the highest for the month in six years, according to a Reuters analysis of government data.

Ember’s report comes just ahead of the G20 summit to be held in New Delhi this week, where global leaders will gather to discuss some of the world’s most pressing issues such as economic disparities and climate change. However, the G20 economies, which account for 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, have yet to reach a consensus on taking transformative climate actions.

Major fossil fuel producers, including China, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Indonesia, opposed a proposal in July to triple G20 countries’ renewable energy capacity by 2030, while India took a neutral stand on the issue. The countries are also divided on making the commitment to phase down fossil fuels.

China, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, has made ambitious plans to bring its total installed capacity of wind and solar power to over 1,200 gigawatts (GW) by 2030 to support the country’s 2060 carbon-neutral goal. With 757GW of wind and solar already operating, and an additional 750GW in the pipeline, China’s 2030 target will be met five years ahead of schedule, according to non-profit Global Energy Monitor.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in 2021 that China would start phasing out coal use from 2026, though the country is yet to unveil its detailed strategies.

Despite most of the G20 economies managing to bring down their per capita coal power emissions, the speed of the transition towards renewable energy is still not enough to keep global warming within the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit required to avert environmental disaster, according to Ember.

The think tank calls on the member countries to set and commit to more ambitious targets by tripling their renewables capacity by 2030, and making plans to phase out coal.

“The G20 nations are at a critical juncture to show leadership and drive global actions to end fossil fuels and usher in an era of clean power. As the world’s largest economies, the G20 has the opportunity to prepare the scene at the G20 Summit for determined actions,” the report said.