Driven by Steel Production, China’s Belt and Road Construction Carries a Heavy Climate Cost

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By Phil McKenna, Inside Climate News. 

Excerpt: China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the world’s largest ongoing infrastructure program, has a substantial climate impact. More than half its emissions stem from steel, the majority of which was produced in China. ...More than 130 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions are tied to the construction of transportation, energy, building and water projects that were part of China’s Belt and Road international development initiative from 2008 to 2024, according to a study published Monday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology. ...The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s trillion-dollar development effort designed to help expand Beijing’s global influence. ...Carbon-intensive steel accounted for 53 percent of the projects’ total emissions, according to the study. ...China produces more than half of all steel worldwide, and its manufacturing accounts for approximately 15 percent of the country’s total carbon dioxide emissions. ...Kate Logan, director of the China Climate Hub & Climate Diplomacy for the Asia Society Policy Institute, said in a written statement... “This makes China’s steel sector a hotspot for global emissions—but also a huge opportunity if it can be cleaned up.” A combination of carrot-and-stick policies that incentivize cleaner technologies while placing a price on carbon is needed to hasten this transition, a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences concluded... 

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