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.



Oil Prices Jump More than 5% after Israel Strikes Iran

An oil pump is seen in Lagunillas, Ciudad Ojeda, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo
An oil pump is seen in Lagunillas, Ciudad Ojeda, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo
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Oil Prices Jump More than 5% after Israel Strikes Iran

An oil pump is seen in Lagunillas, Ciudad Ojeda, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo
An oil pump is seen in Lagunillas, Ciudad Ojeda, in the state of Zulia, Venezuela, March 18, 2015. REUTERS/Isaac Urrutia/File Photo

Oil prices jumped more than 5% on Friday to hit the highest in more than two months after Israel said it struck Iran, raising concerns of escalating tensions in the Middle East that could disrupt oil supplies.

Brent crude futures rose $3.91, or 5.64%, to $73.27 a barrel by 0146 GMT, the highest since April 3. US West Texas Intermediate crude was up $4.09, or 6.01%, at $72.13 a barrel, Reuters reported.

Israel said early on Friday that it struck Iran, and Iranian media said explosions were heard in Tehran as tensions mounted over US efforts to win Iran's agreement to halt production of material for an atomic bomb.

"The Israeli attack on Iran has heightened the risk premium further," MST Marquee senior energy analyst Saul Kavonic said.

"The conflict would need to escalate to the point of Iranian retaliation on oil infrastructure in the region before oil supply is actually materially impacted," he said, adding that Iran could hinder up to 20 million barrels per day of oil supply via attacks on infrastructure or limiting passage through the Strait of Hormuz in an extreme scenario.