Maybe emissions fell because industrial activity fell instead? Maybe oil and gas have been used less because the cost has risen. Maybe that explains coal as well depending on how it is used. I’m speculating coal might be used in the production of steel - what if that product is highly tariffed in the US and EU so China had to cut back?

China is “greening” but we should be skeptical that it’s out of some lofty moral goal. If it was they wouldn’t be hoarding the production of rare earth minerals and would be freely giving away technology for the sake of the planet.

> China is “greening” but we should be skeptical that it’s out of some lofty moral goal

Why does the "why" matter? Tons of carbon are tons of carbon, right? That's what people say when you tell them about per-capita emissions.

> they wouldn’t be hoarding the production of rare earth minerals and would be freely giving away technology for the sake of the planet.

You can freely buy as many cheap panels and batteries and EVs and heat pumps from China as you like (unless your country is stupid enough to tariff or ban them). Those come with minerals. When they reach end-of-life they can be recycled.

What exactly are they "hoarding" that the planet needs to go green? It hasn't prevented Pakistan or Vietnam from going ham on PV deployment.

Oh you're correct, the same thing is happening in India without any of the nonsense fanfare.

https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coal-power-drops-in-chi...

https://www.carbonbrief.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/span-...

You can see the same dips hit at the same time for the same reason.

In terms of Chinese coal though there's a reason boosters always talk about percentages and not absolute number... one goes down, but the other keeps rising. Even if China continues on the current course in terms of tonnage burned they won't reach "peak coal" until at least 2030.