Welcome to Carbon Brief’s China Briefing.
China Briefing handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
New plan to upgrade China’s power system
GRID IMPROVEMENTS: The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA), China’s top economic planner and top energy regulator, respectively, released guidance on improving the grid’s ability to meet electricity demand as more renewable projects come online. The guidance outlines key tasks for local governments and grid companies to strengthen peaking capacity, increase energy storage capacity and develop smart grids, reported energy news outlet IN-EN.com.
PEAKING CAPACITY: In an interview with BJX News, a “responsible” official at the NDRC said that the key goals of the regulation included “commissioning more than 80 gigawatts (GW) of pumped storage power stations, seeing demand-side response capacity exceed 5% of the maximum load and reaching a proportion of more than 20% of new energy power generation in the national energy mix” by 2027. It also requires all coal-fired plants to be retrofitted to become more flexible, if it is possible for them to do so, the outlet added. As part of this, regions that have relatively high proportions of renewable energy, but insufficient peaking capacity, must ensure their coal-fired power plants can run at “below 30% of the[ir] rated load”, David Fishman, senior manager at the Lantau Group, said on Twitter. He added that regions that have reliable access to affordable sources of gas are also permitted to develop gas-fired peaking plants and that nuclear peaking should be explored.
ENERGY STORAGE: In comments attributed to an “official”, China Energy Net said that priorities in developing energy storage capacity included: developing pumped storage, constructing “new energy storage” – predominantly batteries – on the power supply side and developing storage on the user side; optimising the scale and layout of new energy storage for power transmission and distribution; and developing new technologies.
BYD car carriers arrive in Europe
ARRIVAL: BYD’s first roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ship arrived in Germany, bringing a challenge “directly to Europe’s auto-making powerhouse”, Agence France-Presse reported. German newspaper Die Welt also covered the news, saying that “around 3,000 [electric vehicles (EVs) were] brought ashore”, adding that the “200-metre-long ship had previously docked in…the Netherlands”.
PUSHING PRICES DOWN: A comment piece in the Daily Mail argued that the RoRo ship’s arrival heralded Europe being “deluged with Chinese EVs”, which will “act to depress inflation rates that are already falling” as China “export[s]” its own deflation to the rest of the world. Robinson Meyer, the executive editor of Heatmap, wrote in the New York Times: “Chinese carmakers are the first real competition that the global car industry has faced in decades, and American companies must be exposed to some of that threat, for their own good.” Elsewhere, the Wall Street Journal reported that increasingly affordable BYD EVs will be a “nightmare for foreign competitors – not just for their EV businesses but their legacy gas-powered ones, too”.
UK INVESTIGATION?: According to Politico, the UK government is thinking about “whether to investigate Chinese state subsidies for EV makers”, although plans are currently “nascent”. The Daily Telegraph also said that the UK is considering placing tariffs on the “flood” of cheap Chinese EVs. Meanwhile, the US commerce department will “investigate potential data and cybersecurity risks posed by Chinese electric vehicles”, Bloomberg reported, with one official saying the Biden administration “isn’t yet calling for a ban of Chinese EVs but could impose some limitations on imports of the vehicles or parts”. The EU, meanwhile, has required China-made EVs to be “registered with customs authorities…as the bloc looks to apply retroactive tariffs” in the face of subsidies given to the industry, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post.
China issues ‘first’ climate change law
CLIMATE LAW: China’s Ministry of Environment and Ecology (MEE) recently held a press briefing on new regulations governing the country’s national emissions trading scheme (ETS), which are effective from 1 May. The law will ensure “quality emission data” and will have “legal teeth to deter illegal activities” that will help impose a fine of not less than five times but not more than 10 times any illegal income, MEE vice minister Zhao Yingmin (who also led the China delegation to COP28) told the press conference, according to a transcript published by China Electric Power News. Once the regulation comes into force, no new local carbon markets will be established and industries that are currently participating in the national scheme will be prevented from joining local-level emission trading pilots, which will help avoid “duplication” of data, said BJX News. Meanwhile, Zhao also raised objections to the EU’s carbon border tax because it unilaterally imposes “additional costs” on poor countries, Bloomberg said, adding that he called collaborating on a global carbon market a “better option”.
CHINA’S FIRST: The carbon trading regulations are China’s “first dedicated legislation” to be issued to address climate change, according to the state-supporting newspaper Global Times. It said they are the first “administrative regulation” to outline the carbon emission trading system, providing a “legal basis for the operation and management of the national carbon market”. The regulation is a “landmark” decision that is of “great significance to the realisation of China’s dual carbon goals”, said Zhao in a recording broadcasted by state news agency Xinhua. Industry outlet China Energy Net reported that the emissions trading system was previously governed by a series of lower-tier “departmental regulations”. It quoted an academic at Renmin University of China saying that the new regulations lay out comparatively “clearer management requirements”.
Emissions targets for manufacturing and mining
‘GREEN’ MANUFACTURING: In early March, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the “guiding opinions on accelerating green development of the manufacturing industry”, which plan, among other things, to increase the share of “green” factories in the manufacturing sector to 40% of the sector’s total output by 2030, reported Xinhua. The opinions also set a target that by 2030, the “green and low-carbon transformation” of the industry will “produce a marked effect”, and “the proportion of green and low-carbon energy use [in the sector] will be significantly increased”, while, by 2035, the industry’s “carbon emissions will decrease steadily after reaching the peak [in 2030]” and “green development will become the universal form of new industrialisation”, Jiemian reported. Xin Guobin, MIIT vice minister, said that “energy-saving supervision” of more than 4,300 industrial enterprises will be carried out and energy-saving diagnostic services will be provided to more than 1,800 enterprises to meet the target, reported China News.
EMISSIONS STRATEGY: The opinions aim to address “bottlenecks and shortcomings” that restrict decarbonisation of traditional as well as emerging industries, such as information technology, data centres, chips and other technology-related sectors, reported BJX News. China will develop a “market-oriented green and low-carbon computing power application system” to meet the 2030 green manufacturing target, it added. The aerospace sector will “actively develop” so-called “new energy” aircraft, such as electric aircraft, while the maritime industry will accelerate the development of ships powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol, ammonia or batteries, and launch a pilot project for ship electrification, reported Jiemian.
INDUSTRY CATALOGUE: At the same time, China’s NDRC and other departments issued the 2024 edition of a catalogue defining industries that are considered to be part of China’s energy transition, reported IN-EN.com. The outlet noted that the category “clean and low-carbon transition of traditional energy [industries]” included “clean coal production”, “clean and highly-efficient use of coal” and extraction and use of coalbed methane. Another IN-EN.com article said that, in addition to energy production, services such as demand-side management and “green” power trading were also included in the catalogue.
Spotlight
What does the 2024 government ‘work report’ say about climate and energy?
In this issue, Carbon Brief analyses what the government “work report”, delivered at the “two sessions”, means for climate and energy policy in 2024.
Why is the lianghui important?
The lianghui – widely known as the “two sessions” – is the annual gathering of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing, for several days of parliamentary meetings.
Its centrepiece is the “government work report”, a speech traditionally delivered by the premier that underscores successes from the previous year and outlines priorities for the year ahead.
It is also traditionally when China announces its GDP growth target. Alongside the work report, China also releases a report by its top economic planner, the NDRC, and its central and local budget report.
Does the work report include hard climate targets?
One of the few quantitative climate targets China set in the report is to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 2.5% over the coming year, a target that Bloomberg described as “modest”. The target was lower than analysts’ expectations of 4%, the outlet added.
Previous analysis for Carbon Brief found that China would need to reduce its energy intensity by 6% per year to meet its 2025 target of a 13.5% drop in energy intensity, with energy demand falling in absolute terms.
However, the NDRC report said that the 2.5% target reflects the fact that energy consumption will increase this year. Instead, it said that the energy intensity target will now “exclud[e] non-fossil fuels and coal, petroleum and natural gas consumed as raw materials”.
This shift means the government has “redefined” the energy intensity target to mean “fossil fuel intensity”, Lauri Myllyvirta, senior research fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), told Carbon Brief, making the 2025 target “very soft-ball”.
Myllyvirta stated that the report does not address the bigger problem – accelerating growth in energy-intensive sectors to support China’s economy during the Covid-19 pandemic.
By his estimate, if China’s energy intensity – under the new calculation – does fall by 2.5%, this would translate to “at best” a 3% fall in carbon intensity, which is “very far from the 7% [fall] they need”, per his recent Carbon Brief analysis, to meet the 2025 target of an 18% reduction in carbon intensity.
Is the report ambitious on climate?
The work report makes no significant changes to China’s direction of travel on climate and energy policy. Instead, the language around these policies continued to balance tensions inherent to China’s energy transition.
The report signalled that China will continue to manage the relative prioritisation of “both high-quality development and greater security”. It also asked policymakers to “actively” and “prudently” make efforts to reach China’s dual carbon goals.
Efforts will be made to reduce carbon emissions and pollution, as well as to develop large-scale wind and solar bases and distributed energy, it said. But, at the same time, the report also doubled down on the commitment to fossil fuels.
Coal will continue to play a “crucial role in ensuring energy supply”, it said, while China increases development of oil, gas and strategic minerals in the name of security.
“You could almost see the government struggling with the language,” Li Shuo, director of ASPI’s China climate hub, told Carbon Brief. He added that there “seems to be an increasing lack of consistency” both in the report and in other policy papers.
He attributed this to the increasingly challenging situation facing the government and competing interests within the political system.
“We’re getting very concerned” about China’s ability to meet its wider climate goals, Li said. Based on the recent surge in energy consumption, “it is going to be very challenging for China to hit [its energy and carbon intensity] targets. They certainly will not be able to meet those targets if they stick to…2.5% [annual] energy intensity reduction.”
Will China continue to boost ‘green’ innovation?
The government work report trumpeted China’s clean-energy development in 2023, including growing installations of renewable energy, its contributions to the global energy transition and the 30% growth in exports of the “new three” industries.
(Previous analysis for Carbon Brief found that clean technologies – particularly the “new three” – were the top driver of China’s economic growth last year.)
Going forward, China will “consolidate and enhance [its] leading position” in industries such as electric vehicles and hydrogen, and “create new ways of storing energy”, the report said.
It also pledged to “implement…‘small and beautiful’ projects” in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries.
“I [can’t] think of a[nother] country where the economic agenda and the climate agenda are so aligned,” Li tells Carbon Brief. “The challenge for China is when and how and how fast will the positive[s]” lead to the “phasing down or the phasing out of the dirtier [aspects].”
What next?
The government work report merely sets the framework for the year. Ministries and local governments must now develop concrete policies to meet its goals.
Whether and how China progresses towards its dual carbon goals depends on how they interpret and implement the report’s signals.
220
The maximum amount of solar capacity, in gigawatts (GW), that China could add in 2024, according to a presentation by China Photovoltaic Industry Association (CPIA) honorary chairman Wang Bohua. (Total solar capacity in the EU stood at 200GW at the end of 2022.)
Watch, read, listen
CRITICAL MINERALS: Trivium China analysed which critical minerals – important for the manufacturing of many clean-energy technologies – are at greater risk of having export controls placed on them by China.
EXIT INTERVIEW: Outgoing US climate envoy John Kerry told the New Yorker that “China is teeing up to be in a position to surprise the world” with its ability to meet its climate commitments.
ENVIRONMENTAL MULTILATERALISM: China Daily interviewed Gu Shuzhong, a senior research fellow from the Institute of Resource and Environmental Policy under the Chinese government thinktank the Development Research Center, about a new environmental policy group and US-China climate cooperation.
MEGABASES: On the Switched On podcast, BloombergNEF analysts Tianyi Zhao and Xiangyu Chen explained the role of renewable energy “megabases” in China’s clean energy transition.
New science
Science of the Total Environment
New research found that “differences in thermal comfort, outdoor activity duration and social vulnerability” meant that women faced a higher heat risk than men in China between 1991 and 2020. This was less prevalent in southern regions than the “severe” disparity in northern regions, it said. The study added that male overheating risk was “mainly attributed to population clustering associated with prolonged outdoor activity time and skewed social resource allocation”, whereas female overheating risk was “primarily affected by social inequalities”.
No more coal abroad! Unpacking the drivers of China’s green shift in overseas energy finance
Energy Research and Social Science
Through a new analytical framework as well as elite interviews, policy documents and media reports, a study determined that the decision by China’s leadership to stop funding overseas coal power projects was due to “the combined outcome of three mechanisms: issue linkages in intergovernmental bargaining, lobbying of transnational alliances and influence of domestic interest groups seeking policy change”.
Using machine learning to analyse the changes in extreme precipitation in Southern China
Atmospheric Research
Researchers applied a “convolutional neural network” – a type of machine learning algorithm – to correctly identify 96% of extreme precipitation events in southern China. A certain circulation pattern identified by the algorithm to be an “extreme precipitation circulation pattern”, was found to be linked to extreme precipitation events, as a decline in the frequency of the circulation pattern indicated a decrease in extreme precipitation events.
China Briefing is compiled by Anika Patel and edited by Wanyuan Song and Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org
The post China Briefing 7 March: ‘Two sessions’ readout; BYD’s EV megaships; Power upgrade appeared first on Carbon Brief.
China Briefing 7 March: ‘Two sessions’ readout; BYD’s EV megaships; Power upgrade
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 22 July 2026 – Greenpeace Netherlands has launched legal proceedings against a multi-billion-dollar global expansion plan by the biggest meat producer in Australia, JBS, in an escalation of climate litigation against the livestock industry.
Greenpeace petitioned a Dutch court to compel the meat giant to disclose information in order to challenge its business policies in court, including a US$6 billion global expansion, for which almost half is earmarked for Nigeria.
Elizabeth Atieno, Food Campaigner at Greenpeace Africa, said: “JBS’ meat empire expanded hand-in-glove with Amazon destruction, colossal emissions, human rights and corruption scandals, all with barely a semblance of transparency. This is the business model it wants to export to sub-Saharan Africa. JBS promises food security, but its expansion in Nigeria risks causing irreversible environmental damage and the displacement of smallholder farmers to line the pockets of wealthy global elites.
“Nigerians know well from the legacy of companies like Shell the destructive impact wrought by unchecked corporate power. As Greenpeace Africa has argued before the African Court of Human Rights, states with jurisdiction over multinationals must hold those corporate actors accountable – wherever they operate in the world. We welcome this bold legal action: the Netherlands and other European states must not be safe havens for corporations like JBS seeking to evade their responsibilities.”
In light of JBS’ longstanding failure to publish accurate and reliable information on its climate, nature and human rights impacts or its expansion plans, Greenpeace Netherlands views accessing this data as a necessary precursor to formal litigation in order to support its case. The case has the potential to be the first climate litigation of this scale against the livestock industry. This could set a major precedent for future legal challenges against the industrial agriculture sector, a major source of global emissions, particularly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, responsible for 0.5°C of warming since the Industrial Revolution.[1]
JBS, via its subsidiary JBS Foods Australia, is the largest meat and food processing company in Australia. With a weekly processing capacity of over 50,000 cattle, it accounts for almost a quarter of all beef processing in the country, as well as a significant presence in the lamb, pork and farmed fish markets. [2] In 2022, ABC’s Four Corners accused the company of ‘repeatedly failing to protect its workers from horrific injuries.’ [3]
Marieke Vellekoop, Executive Director at Greenpeace Netherlands, said “In a month where JBS has thrown its flagship environmental commitments onto the scrap heap, JBS’ disdain for basic transparency only adds to the impression that this meat giant has something to hide and is desperate to prevent its expansion plans from going public. We were hoping we wouldn’t have to trouble a judge with this matter, but JBS has left us no choice but to seek our right to information through the Dutch courts.
“JBS appears to believe that despite moving to the Netherlands, our rules do not apply to it. This legal action aims to prove it wrong – and lay the ground for a first major climate and nature lawsuit against the dangerous expansion of the global meat industry.“
At the centre of the dispute is JBS’ planned US$ 2.5 billion investment in industrial livestock production in Nigeria.[2] Civil society groups in Nigeria have raised urgent warnings that the aggressive expansion will threaten local food security, drive regional instability, and accelerate ecological degradation. There is no available evidence that JBS has conducted any impact assessments or community consultations in Nigeria, and local efforts to gather more information via Freedom of Information requests have reportedly been ignored.[3]
The escalation to the courts follows the refusal of JBS, the world’s largest meat company, to comply with a formal disclosure demand delivered by Greenpeace Netherlands in April. The environmental group is utilising new Dutch legislation, which grants parties with a legitimate interest the right to demand access to specific corporate data necessary to build litigation against Dutch companies.[4]
Greenpeace Netherlands’ lawyers allege that JBS’ historic business practices and future expansion plans are inconsistent with the company’s climate and biodiversity obligations and represent a breach of its Dutch duty of care, which requires companies to act in line with international human rights law.[5]
If the court rules in favor of Greenpeace Netherlands, it is entitled to seek the required information in the form of documents and from senior JBS figures under oath, raising the prospect of the Batista brothers being forced to testify in Dutch court. JBS reincorporated as a Dutch entity (JBS N.V.) last year to facilitate a dual listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
In April, JBS was forced to temporarily suspend its first annual general meeting since moving its headquarters to Amsterdam after it was disrupted by dozens of Greenpeace Netherlands activists.
Last week, JBS scrapped two flagship commitments to reach Net Zero emissions by 2040 and eradicate deforestation from its supply chain. It also removed any explicit reference to Indigenous lands from all of its current policies. Greenpeace Netherlands is concerned this indicates JBS is seeking to expand unconstrained by the climate, nature and human rights impacts of its business.
–ENDS–
Notes:
[1] The livestock sector is estimated to be responsible for 31% of global methane emissions (more than oil and gas operations). In comparison to CO2, methane is shorter lived (around 12 years) but has a much stronger ability to trap heat in the atmosphere over its lifetime: it has approximately 80 times more climate impact than CO2 when measured over 20 years. This means that changes in methane emissions have a more rapid effect on the climate than changes in CO2. See Greenpeace Netherlands letter to JBS dated 30 April 2026.
[2] JBS Foods Australia, Our Business
[3] ABC, Australia’s biggest meat company JBS is repeatedly failing to protect its workers from horrific injuries, 25 April 2022
[4] JBS announcement
[5] Experts raise concerns over the risks of industrial animal farming (The Sun Nigeria)
[6] Simplification and modernisation of Dutch evidence law (Fieldfisher)
[7] Greenpeace Netherlands petition to Dutch court available here. Media briefing with further details on JBS expansion plans, including in Nigeria, available here.
Greenpeace launches legal challenge against Australia’s biggest meat company
Climate Change
“Next year is too late for regulations”: Beetaloo Energy’s 2GW gas-powered AI data centre a “disaster proposal” destined to cause climate chaos
SYDNEY, Wednesday 22 July 2026 — Beetaloo Energy has secured land from the NT Government for a massive $40 billion “hyperscale” AI data centre near Darwin, which would be powered by 2 gigawatts (GW) of gas power fracked directly from the Beetaloo basin, prompting calls from Greenpeace for urgent federal legislation.
The proposal marks a dangerous escalation in the AI data centre industry’s expansion, which threatens to entrench fossil fuel infrastructure for decades and put immense pressure on the region’s fragile water resources — while continuing to be unregulated.
Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “This disaster proposal for a 2GW gas-powered AI data centre in the NT is a shocking example of the unchecked expansion of hyperscale data centres in Australia. It is also, critically, more evidence for the urgent need for a moratorium on all new data centres until strong, binding regulations are put in place to protect our communities and climate.
“This proposal mirrors the frenzied, unchecked expansion currently wreaking havoc on communities in the US. We are seeing cowboy data centre operators treat Australia like a playground, steam-rolling ahead with projects that would lock down precious water resources and spike emissions, despite the overwhelming community opposition.
“Every day, more councils, communities and environmental groups are joining Greenpeace’s call for a moratorium on data centres, yet as of today there is still no system of safeguards or rules in place to regulate these companies.
“While Beetaloo Energy and the NT Government prepare to bulldoze ahead with this climate and water disaster, the Prime Minister is asleep at the wheel, promising to legislate a vague set of standards next year.
“Next year is too late, and anything less than mandating data centres cover their own energy demand, and then some, with new renewable energy is not enough.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Lucy Keller on 0491 135 308 or lucy.keller@greenpeace.org
Reports of human rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese companies’ overseas investments in the mining and refining of minerals needed for the clean energy transition are on the rise, research by a monitoring group has found.
The number of recorded allegations of harm at projects tied to Chinese firms have increased every year since 2021, rising to 148 in 2025, according to the Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRC). On Wednesday it released new data showing that a total of 434 allegations of abuse were made against Chinese-backed projects over the five-year period in projects across the world.
The world’s top cleantech manufacturer, China is also the leading financier of critical minerals projects worldwide. The country has committed more than $120 billion in foreign direct investment into mineral mining and processing since 2023, Australian think-tank Climate Energy Finance recently found.
“China plays a central role in global transition mineral supply chains, and as such has a unique opportunity to raise the bar on human rights and community engagement at every stage of mining,” said Michael Clements, BHRC’s executive director.
“While there have been encouraging developments, from stronger regulations to more company engagement, there remains a gap between human rights commitment and action,” he said.
The report comes as communities affected by Chinese-backed mineral projects have filed the first two cases to a Beijing-based mediation mechanism intended to bring willing Chinese companies to the discussion table with affected communities.
Allegations of harms on the rise
BHRC’s latest analysis – including data for the period 2023-2025 – covered mining, smelting and refining projects for 11 minerals considered key to manufacturing clean energy technologies such as batteries, EVs and solar panels needed to move away from climate-heating fossil fuels.
The highest number of abuses was recorded in Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of nickel, which is used to make EV batteries. After the Indonesian government banned exports of raw nickel, Chinese firms invested billions of dollars to develop a large-scale nickel smelting and processing industry in the Southeast Asian country, largely powered by coal.
Other countries with a high number of recorded harms include the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Chinese firms dominate cobalt and copper production; Myanmar, where unregulated rare earths mining has caused widespread environmental destruction; Serbia, where Chinese-backed mining of some of Europe’s most significant copper and gold deposits is swallowing land and homes, and Zimbabwe, where Chinese investments have turned the nation into Africa’s top lithium producer.
Growing risks for people and nature
Allegations tracked by BHRC included negative impacts on local livelihoods, health and land rights, workers’ health and safety and work-related deaths, as well as water pollution and environmental contamination. In addition, 18 people were attacked for raising concerns about Chinese transition mineral projects between 2023 and 2025.
The report shows that 10 Chinese companies, including Zijin Mining, Tsingshan Group and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, accounted for nearly two-thirds of all allegations recorded in the last five years. It found that some Chinese companies “still appear to turn a blind eye to these issues” but noted that several others have been more responsive to allegations of abuse. However, even among companies with human rights policies, implementation remains a challenge, BHRC warned.
-
India looks to untapped graphite riches for slice of critical minerals boom
Clean energy demand for battery-grade graphite is surging, but India faces hurdles as it positions itself to compete with China’s grip on the supply chain -
Indonesia turns traditional Indigenous land into nickel industrial zone
Indonesia supplies the EV industry with critical battery materials but the sector’s rapid expansion is infringing the rights of Indigenous peoples -
Recycling could meet half of Europe’s critical mineral needs by 2050
A new report by an EU-funded research project says the bloc could harness its “urban mines” to reduce its dependence on China for energy transition minerals
Zijin Mining and Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt repeatedly responded to the allegations of harm by saying they take environmental and social risks seriously and adhere to international standards. Tsingshan Group never responded to BHRC’s requests for comment.
Platform for dialogue between communities and Chinese firms
At the same time, Chinese authorities have made “significant progress” on introducing a more specific framework for managing environmental and social risks in overseas investment, BHRC said.
This includes global consultation on a draft Sustainable Mining Code, adherence to UN guiding principles on business and human rights, and greater emphasis on oversight of companies operating overseas.
The China Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters (CCCMC) set up a mediation and consultation mechanism intended to provide a platform for dialogue between affected communities or civil society groups that have raised concerns and Chinese companies.
More than three years since its launch, the mechanism has now received its first two complaints from local communities and many more are considering filing a case, Margaux Day, executive director at the nonprofit Accountability Counsel, told an event hosted by Climate Home News last month.
“This is incredibly exciting in that it fills a governance and accountability gap where often communities who are seeking to protect their rights and the environment can’t reach someone who will respond to them,” she told the panel discussion at London Climate Action Week.
Climate Home News understands that the complaints were filed by communities in Latin America and Southeast Asia over labour rights and resettlement issues. No information about the cases has yet been made public. The mechanism’s secretariat did not respond to Climate Home News’ questions.
The mechanism was set up after the Chinese regulator for banks and insurers called on investor-level institutions to establish complaints bodies to hear from communities outside of China. But whether the new initiative will prove effective in tackling grievances remains an open question.
“Real potential” for better mining practices
Participation in the mechanism is voluntary for Chinese firms and it doesn’t have a fact-finding function, nor can it impose provisions for compensation or compliance with human rights standards.
But Day told Climate Home News that, if successful, it could bring companies to negotiate an outcome that is better for people and the planet and leads to more sustainable mining practice.
Chen Yu, an independent China advisor for campaign group Global Witness, agreed that the mechanism holds “real potential”.
“There exists nothing else at a similar level to promote dialogue between communities and Chinese mining companies in particular,” she said.
For companies, the mechanism opens “a channel for problem-solving and dialogue with communities”, she added, as “Chinese companies often remain cautious of approaching affected communities directly, afraid of making the problem bigger”.
However, Chen said the mechanism remains at an early stage of development, faces resourcing challenges and is not yet sufficiently understood by communities in mining areas or Chinese firms.
To help it address some of these challenges, the secretariat is currently seeking technical support from a range of organisations, including civil society groups. But, Chen said, “it will take time for the mechanism to show its value”.
The post Allegations of harms at China-backed transition minerals projects rise appeared first on Climate Home News.
Allegations of harms at China-backed transition minerals projects rise
Greenpeace launches legal challenge against Australia’s biggest meat company
“Next year is too late for regulations”: Beetaloo Energy’s 2GW gas-powered AI data centre a “disaster proposal” destined to cause climate chaos
Allegations of harms at China-backed transition minerals projects rise
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