China’s next five-year plan crucial to staging coal exit: report

Despite the boom in renewables and a fast-approaching climate deadline, China still doesn’t have a coherent exit strategy for coal, according to new research from clean energy advocates.

Although Beijing has engineered drops in coal-fired power output and carbon emissions, new coal projects are at a decade high, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air and Global Energy Monitor said in a report on Monday reviewing the first half of 2025.

That trend is likely to continue over the next two years unless the government takes action, according to the report. Earlier pledges to relegate the fossil fuel to a supporting role haven’t been properly implemented, even as coal’s share of power generation has fallen to a nine-year low of 51% and renewables have risen to 60% of total installed capacity.

“This rush of activity signals possible pressure from the industry to expand coal projects as a last ditch effort before China’s 2030 carbon peaking deadline,” the report said.

That puts the onus on Beijing’s next five-year plan, which should be released early next year, to deliver “a clear, coordinated road map for managing coal power’s decline,” it said.

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