China Purging Coal from Green Bonds Seen Luring Investors
- Projects that use coal but reduce emissions no longer eligible
- Rules would align China with rest of sustainable finance world
A floating solar farm on the outskirts of Ningbo, China.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Fossil fuels are no longer considered “green” by China’s central bank.
The People’s Bank of China plans to remove “clean utilization of fossil fuel” projects from the list of programs that can be funded by green bonds, according to a draft plan released Friday. The bank has drawn the ire of environmentalists for allowing the sustainable financing tools to fund projects that burn coal but use enhanced technologies to reduce air pollution.