Greening the Steel and Cement Used in China's Global Infrastructure Projects

Join us to explore how green procurement of steel and cement can help reduce the hidden carbon emissions of Chinese-financed infrastructure.

China’s overseas development finance, representing public and publicly guaranteed loans by the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export–Import Bank of China (CHEXIM), has provided over US$472 billion in loans since 2008, making it the largest bilateral lender for global infrastructure and development. The energy sector is the largest recipient of this financing, where steel and cement are core materials across many projects.

Beyond direct emissions, these infrastructure projects often drive deforestation, biodiversity loss and land-use change, while also facing climate risks such as floods, typhoons and water stress. This creates an urgent need to reduce both embodied and operational emissions while improving climate resilience, a central priority for many host countries.

A new report from the Boston University Global Development Policy Center examines green procurement strategies as an effective solution to reducing the carbon footprint of Chinese-financed transport and energy projects. In the webinar, the report authors will present key findings on the embodied carbon in steel and cement, and share policy recommendations based on green procurement scenarios. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

Speakers:

- Cecilia Springer, Non-Resident Fellow, Global China Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

-Hanjie Wang, Lecturer, University of Washington; Former Post-doctoral Global China Fellow, Boston University Global Development Policy Center

- Ali Hasanbeigi, Founder, CEO and Research Director, Global Efficiency Intelligence

Moderator:

- Mengdi Yue, Research Fellow, Global China Initiative, Boston University Global Development Policy Center.