Climate Politics
China to Host Almost a Third of the World’s New Coal Mines
- Production targets for the fuel have been raised this year
- Commodities import costs rise as yuan slumps to 2008 low
China mined 4.01 billion tons of coal in 2021.
Photographer: Qilai Shen/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Almost a third of the new coal mines planned for the world are in China, all but guaranteeing that output will keep rising in the top producer, even as calls grow for the dirtiest fossil fuel to be phased out to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
Based on data from Global Energy Monitor, China had 559 million tons of proposed new coal mines at the start of the year, accounting for 29% of the global total, according to a note from Bloomberg Intelligence. Australia was second with a 17% share, then India and Russia with 16% each. Still, the 1.94 billion tons of new mines planned around the world is 15% less than a year ago.