China carbon emissions ‘flat or falling’ in 2025, analysis says

⭐ Join our community and access the best we offer!

illuminem summarises for you the essential news of the day. Read the full piece on The Straits Times or enjoy below:

🗞️ Driving the news: In 2025, China’s emissions were reported as "flat or falling", with a 0.3% drop despite rising energy demand
• The decline was largely due to the country's expanding renewable energy capacity, but there are concerns about fragile progress and the growing emissions from the chemical sector

🔭 The context: China’s emissions have been stagnating since March 2024
• This is a result of large-scale solar and wind installations, but coal still plays a major role, affecting carbon neutrality goals

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: This marks a crucial shift as China, the world’s largest emitter, tries to balance economic growth with climate commitments
• Renewable energy expansions have slowed power sector emissions, but progress in other sectors remains unstable, putting global climate goals at risk

💬 One quote: “Emissions aren’t rising rapidly like they did until 2023, but they’re also not falling the way that they need to for China to start making progress towards the carbon-neutrality target.” – Lauri Myllyvirta, CREA Analyst

📈 One stat: 2% decrease in coal use for electricity generation in 2025, despite rising electricity demand

See on illuminem's Data Hub™ the sustainability performance — carbon credit purchases, total emissions, and climate targets of thousands of companies

Click for more news covering the latest on carbon and energy transition