The British are getting very nervous that they are facing a strategic defeat at the upcoming COP26 summit. An authoritative statement issued yesterday by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang about China’s policy on coal, has now sent shivers up their spine.
After presiding over a meeting of Beijing’s National Energy Commission, Li Keqiang said: “Energy security should be the premise on which a modern energy system is built and the capacity for energy self-supply should be enhanced.… Given the predominant place of coal in the country’s energy and resource endowment, it is important to optimize the layout for the coal production capacity, build advanced coal-fired power plants as appropriate in line with development needs, and continue to phase out outdated coal plants in an orderly fashion. Domestic oil and gas exploration will be intensified.” The statement also said Li had commissioned “in-depth studies and calculations in light of the recent handling of electricity and coal supply strains, to put forward a phased timetable and roadmap for peaking carbon emissions.”
At the same time, Li underlined the long-term need of meeting the “carbonization” goals China had adopted, emphasizing the dual consumption goals of reducing overall energy consumption and producing with less energy throughput. But the NEC also made clear that it is “impossible to get rid of traditional fossil energy in the short term.” In order to use the rising price of coal to “encourage” energy-saving, the government has allowed energy prices, which it sets, to rise as much as 20% rather than 10% over the target price.
