China's Coal Power Giants Seen Charging Ahead Into Climate Risks
- Top six listed firms slow to respond to climate change: ARE
- Foreign investors may find it harder to justify holding shares
A man tends to vegetables growing in a field as emissions rise from cooling towers at a coal-fired power station in Tongling, Anhui province, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
China’s top six listed coal-power generators are failing to respond to climate change, lagging international peers and leaving them misaligned with Beijing’s broader environmental policies, according to a sustainability and governance risk consultant.
That’s keeping shareholders without adequate information on how the firms are addressing climate change or adjusting their businesses to adapt, Singapore-based Asia Research & Engagement said in a report Monday. The companies, with a combined market capitalization of almost $91 billion at the mid-year, account for about a fifth of China’s power and emitted nearly 3% of the world’s carbon dioxide in 2017, according to ARE.