Until this month, much of the coal China imports to power its massive economy sailed into Chinese ports from Indonesia. But on Jan. 1, the Southeast Asian nation announced a ban on coal exports amid concerns over local shortages, leaving the world’s second largest economy in a lurch.
Indonesia’s surprise announcement comes at a time of strained relations between Beijing and Washington, and a diplomatic spat between Australia and China that resulted in China implementing an unofficial ban on Australian coal imports in 2020.
China is the world’s largest producer, consumer and importer of the dirty fuel, and how it shifts its power grid away from coal will have a significant impact on the world’s ability to tackle climate change. Although China has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2060 and reducing coal use beginning in 2026, experts say that recent developments mean that China may hesitate to make any further carbon reduction promises.
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“Because of the rising anxiety over security, including energy security, China is expected to be a little bit more cautious regarding further upgrading its climate commitments,” says Kevin Tu, a Beijing-based non-resident fellow at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.
Although the lion’s share of the coal China uses is mined domestically, it imports coal to bolster local supply. More than 60% of China’s coal imports came from Indonesia in the first 11 months of 2021, which is the latest data available. In the near term, the Indonesian ban means that China might increase the amount of coal it digs up at home. The country has the world’s fourth largest coal reserves and produced 4.2 billion tons while importing 335 million tons in 2020, according to Reuters.
China’s imports of coal came to a near standstill in the first two months of 2021, following an unofficial ban on Aussie coal as the result of deteriorating relations between the nations. China has worked to fill the…
Source : time
