- China’s carbon dioxide emissions decreased by 3.1 percent in Q3 2026
China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 3.1 percent during the third quarter of 2026, the steepest quarterly decline since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to analysis by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) published by Carbon Brief. Severe disruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, linked to the Middle East war, has heavily impacted China, the world’s second-largest economy and top crude importer. Overall oil use declined by four percent year-on-year, while transport oil consumption dropped nine percent. “It’s clear there is going to be some kind of a rebound in oil consumption once, or if, prices come down,” Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder and lead analyst at CREA, told AFP. “That’s against the context that China’s oil consumption had highly likely peaked before the shock,” he said. “The shock has clearly accelerated the electrification trend and the shift away from oil.” Despite rapid construction of new coal plants, coal use also fell by three percent year-on-year. “Coal power sustaining a downward trend is a key factor in the further development of renewable energy,” said Gao Yuhe, Beijing-based project lead at Greenpeace East Asia. “At the same time, we need to see expanding uptake of renewable energy and marketization of renewable energy and energy storage systems,” he added. China, the world’s biggest emitter responsible for over 30 percent of global greenhouse gases, has pledged to step up efforts to reduce CO2 and boost the green transition, aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060.
