Energy and Climate
International flows of finance and technology from China are shaping the global landscape of energy infrastructure, with profound implications for climate change, the environment and local livelihoods. The Global China Initiative’s program on Energy and Climate conducts research on the composition and impacts of China’s overseas energy projects. This work sheds light on political and economic factors determining energy choices by China and countries that borrow or receive financing from China. The program also aims to identify regional, country-level and institutional opportunities for shifting development finance and overseas engagement towards renewable energy sources.
Research Highlight: China’s Global Power Database
China’s Global Power Database documents all overseas power plants financed through Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) and/or China’s two global policy banks, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. The database maps these projects by estimated CO2 emissions, lender, deal type, technology, capacity and operating status of the power plants. At the end of 2018, Chinese capital has involved upwards of 777 power plants overseas, providing a total 186.5 GW of power generation capacity. Among these power plants, Chinese participation ranges from debt finance to FDI, including mergers and acquisitions and greenfield investments.
Suggested citation: Gallagher, Kevin P., Li, Zhongshu, Chen, Xu, Ma, Xinyue (2019), “China’s Global Power Database,” Global Development Policy Center, Boston University.
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Energy and Climate – Latest News and Publications
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Pushing out or Pulling in? The Determinants of Chinese Energy Finance in Developing Countries
January 10, 2022While carbon emissions are showing signs of stabilizing in some advanced economies, emissions from most developing countries continue to rise as nations strive to raise their standards of living. The energy sector is pivotal from both a climate and development... [ More ]
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Turning Words into Action: A Post-COP26 View of China’s Commitment to Quit Coal Overseas
December 20, 2021By Xinyue Ma At the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this September, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced China would increase support for other developing countries in green and low-carbon energy and would not build new coal-fired power plants abroad. As... [ More ]
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Assessing the Status of Existing and Tentative Marine World Heritage Areas Reveals Opportunities to Better Achieve World Heritage Convention Goals
December 20, 2021The 1972 World Heritage Convention (WHC) and 1994 Global Strategy aim to preserve the outstanding universal value of internationally important cultural and natural sites within a “representative, balanced and credible” network of highly-protected areas. Increasing human pressures and shortfalls in... [ More ]
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The Effect of Foreign Investment on Asian Coal Power Plants
December 06, 2021Generating 38.5 percent of the global electricity supply, coal-fired power plants are the largest contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the power sector. The development of these plants represents the tradeoffs and tensions between expanding and improving electricity supply, [ More ]
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Financing Forest Protection Without Fueling the Debt Crisis
November 29, 2021By Blake Alexander Simmons and Rebecca Ray Last month, leaders from over 130 countries endorsed the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), pledging to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. This comes... [ More ]
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COP26 Side Event Summary: Cooperation for Net-Zero and Climate Resilience – Ethiopian and Chinese Perspectives
November 22, 2021By Xinyue Ma As delegations from around the globe met in Glasgow to advance the world’s efforts against climate change at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) on November 10, the Ethiopian Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, [ More ]
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Competing or Complementary Labels? Estimating Spillovers in Chinese Green Building Certification
November 15, 2021Many markets have multiple voluntary certification programs that sellers use to signal product or organizational quality. While previous scholarship has emphasized the potential for competition between labels, what happens when labels are viewed as complementary?In a new journal article published in... [ More ]
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To Compete or Complement? Multiple Green Building Certifications in China
November 15, 2021By Xia Li Certification is used in many industries to solve information problems when product quality or firm behavior is hard to assess. In fact, it is so common that many industries have multiple voluntary certification programs, including the building sector. This... [ More ]
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Up in the Air: Potential Implications of Xi Jinping’s Green Energy and No-Overseas-Coal Announcement
November 09, 2021In September 2021, Chinese leader Xi Jinping announced at the 76th United Nations General Assembly that China would increase support for low-carbon energy in developing countries and not build new coal-fired power projects abroad. Since then, much debate has ensued as... [ More ]
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Open-Source Methods for Estimating Health Risks of Fine Particulate Matter from Coal-Fired Power Plants: A Demonstration from Karachi, Pakistan
November 08, 2021The primary purpose of environmental impact assessments (EIA) is to provide insight to decision makers regarding the environmental consequences of their actions. Ideally, they are done to mitigate harm and modify development plans to maintain environmental quality. The use of EIAs is... [ More ]