Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the opening ceremony for the second Belt and Road Forum in 2019
China finances no new coal in 2021
Size of projects and new investment guidelines have deterred coal financing
China financed no new coal-fired power plant under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in the first half of 2021, according to a report from thinktank the International Institute of Green Finance (IIGF). The BRI, launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013, is a large infrastructure plan designed to finance and build projects in neighbouring countries. The lack of coal investments in 2021 is not the result of a specific moratorium, and may simply be the result of lower overall investments levels, which fell 29pc year-on-year, to $19.3bn. “With the Covid pandemic ongoing, BRI investments were at their slowest pace since 2013” IIGF “With the Covid pandemic ongoing, BRI investments were at
Also in this section
2 January 2026
Next year may be a defining one for carbon capture, utilisation and storage in the US, despite the institutional uncertainty
23 December 2025
Legislative reform in Germany sets the stage for commercial carbon capture and transport at a national level, while the UK has already seen financial close on major CCS clusters
15 December 2025
Net zero is not the problem for the UK’s power system. The real issue is with an outdated market design in desperate need of modernisation
28 November 2025
The launch of the bloc’s emissions trading system in 2005 was a pioneering step, but as the scheme hits 21 its impact as a driver of decarbonisation is still open to debate
