Tim Daiss has been an energy markets, sustainability and geopolitical journalist and analyst in the Asia-Pacific region for the past 15 years.
First, the good news. Mostly due to clean energy production, China’s total CO2 emissions have decreased, dropping 1.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025 and by 1% over the last 12 months, according to a recently released Carbon Brief report. Emissions from the power sector also fell 2% year-on-year in the 12 months to March 2025. Better yet, the emissions drops came as the country’s electricity demand increased.