China CO2 Emissions Fall for 1st Time Since COVID Rebound

A coal-burning power plant can be seen behind a factory in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, October 31, 2010. REUTERS/David Gray
A coal-burning power plant can be seen behind a factory in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, October 31, 2010. REUTERS/David Gray
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China CO2 Emissions Fall for 1st Time Since COVID Rebound

A coal-burning power plant can be seen behind a factory in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, October 31, 2010. REUTERS/David Gray
A coal-burning power plant can be seen behind a factory in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, October 31, 2010. REUTERS/David Gray

China's carbon emissions fell in the third quarter for the first time since its economic recovery from the coronavirus began, new research shows, partly as a result of a clampdown on property development and widespread coal shortages.

The world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases saw CO2 emissions drop by around 0.5% in July-September from a year earlier, Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), said.

"The drop in emissions could mark a turning point and an early peak in China's total emissions, years ahead of its target to peak before 2030," Myllyvirta said in a report published on Carbon Brief on Thursday.

The fall marks a turnaround from an approximately 9% increase in emissions in the first half of 2021, when China's post-COVID-19 economic recovery was in full swing with construction and heavy industrial activity, Reuters said.

The last time China's quarterly emissions fell year-on-year was in January-March 2020, when COVID-19 first hit.

Although researchers had pointed out that China's major industries could reach carbon peaks by around 2024 and called for a cap on total emissions by 2025, its top climate negotiators did not make any more ambitious pledges in the UN talks in Glasgow that ended earlier this month.



Gold Hits Nearly Two-month High as Middle East Tensions Spur Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
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Gold Hits Nearly Two-month High as Middle East Tensions Spur Safe-haven Demand

FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: An employee places ingots of 99.99 percent pure gold in a workroom at the Novosibirsk precious metals refining and manufacturing plant in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, September 15, 2023. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk/File Photo

Gold prices climbed on Friday to their highest levels in nearly two months, and were on track for a weekly gain, after Israeli military strikes on Iran drove investors toward safe-haven assets.

Spot gold was up 1.2% at $3,423.30 an ounce, as of 0544 GMT, after hitting its highest since April 22 earlier in the session. Bullion has gained more than 3.4% so far this week.

US gold futures gained 1.2% to $3,444.50.

Geopolitical tensions escalated after Israel targeted Iran's nuclear facilities, as tensions mounted over US efforts to halt Iran's production of atomic bomb materials.

"This latest spike in hostilities in the Middle East has taken the focus off trade negotiations for now, with investors making a play towards safe-haven assets in response," said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

Israel declared a state of emergency, citing expected missile and drone strikes from Tehran, and the US military is preparing for various contingencies in the Middle East, including potential assistance with evacuating American civilians, a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

"Gold surged past resistance around $3,400 on news of the airstrikes, and further upside could be in-store should the escalation continue," Waterer said.

Signaling a cooling US labor market and subdued inflation pressures, new applications for unemployment benefits held at an eight-month high last week, while slowing domestic demand helped restrain producer prices in May.

The data, released a day after the Labor Department reported a moderate rise in consumer prices in May, bolstered expectations of an earlier rate cut.

Traders are now expecting a Federal Reserve interest rate cut of 55 basis points by the year-end, starting in September rather than October as previously anticipated.

Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.3% at $36.25 per ounce, platinum lost 1% at $1,282.55 and palladium shed 0.5% to $1,050.61. All three metals were set for weekly gains.