China’s carbon emissions fell in the first half of 2025, study shows

China's carbon dioxide emissions dropped 1% in the first half of 2025 from the same period last year, helped by growing use of renewable energy to generate power, according to a study by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.

Emissions from the power sector, the top source of greenhouse gases in China, fell 3% during the six-month period, according to the study by CREA's lead analyst Lauri Myllyvirta for UK-based research organisation Carbon Brief.

Myllyvirta attributed the drop to more renewable electricity from China's rapidly growing fleet of solar power plants, which is expected to see another year of record capacity additions in 2025, putting emissions on track for a full-year decline in 2025, the study said.

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

China, the world's biggest CO2 emitter, last reported an annual decline in carbon emissions in 2022, related to the COVID pandemic, and has targets for emissions to peak by 2030 and to reach net-zero emissions by 2060.

Coal use in the power sector fell 3% during January-June, although gas burned for electricity rose 6%.

Emissions also ticked down in building materials, metals, cement and steel because of China's weak property sector.

However, unlike all other major sectors, carbon emissions from China's chemicals industry are still rising, the study said. The use of coal as an input for synthetic fuels and petrochemical products grew 20% in the first half of the year.

The growth in coal-to-chemicals has added 3% to China's carbon emissions since 2020 and could add another 2% by 2029, the analysis found.

(Reporting by Colleen HoweEditing by Mark Potter)