Why China Wants to Lead on Climate, but Clings to Coal (for Now)
Experts say China has compelling domestic reasons to get out of coal — eventually. Chinese leaders face acute domestic political pressure to curb air pollution, and so it’s in the government’s interest to phase out coal. “China’s own domestic air quality interest is very much aligned with its climate commitment,” said Jiang Lin, a China specialist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which conducts research on behalf of the United States Department of Energy. “To reduce air pollution it has to move away from coal. There’s no doubt about that. The question is how fast.”
