China | Climate Change
China finances coal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina despite its climate pledge
Washington: China is financing coal power plants in Bosnia and Herzegovina, despite making pledges to reduce carbon emissions, Asian News International (ANI) reported.
The ground has been prepared for the new coal-fired power station, Ugljevik III, in the Baltic nation, which is being developed by Chinese and Polish-Chinese firms, and the burning of coal has seriously affecting the health of residents in the village, ANI reported quoting Washington-based magazine The Diplomat.
According to reports, China has planned new power plants in Ugljevik and several other European towns, despite Beijing's promises to curb climate change and its President Xi Jinping's recent pledges to stop financing coal power projects.
ANI reported a Chinese Bank is financing coal-fired power projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose construction works are imminent, despite an investigation by an energy watchdog for violation of the European Union (EU) law.
Researchers Wawa Wang and Nils Resare, writing jointly for The Diplomat magazine, said the construction of a new coal power plant might be an unpleasant surprise of neighbouring countries.
Espoo Convention (Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context), which is conducting a probe on coal projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has expressed a "profound suspicion" of non-compliance by Balkan country, for not having undertaken transboundary consultations, reports ANI.
ANI reported quoting The Diplomat magazine's article that there was a major risk of Chinese-financed power plants being built in Indonesia, the Philippines and Serbia.
These projects announced by Chinese state-owned enterprises this year have a total estimated capacity of over 3645 megawatts (MW), according to The Diplomat's report.
Writers of the report said Chinese-backed overseas coal projects with an additional 10 gigawatts (GW) of capacity are already in the pipeline and are likely to begin construction at any time.
The construction works of multiple Chinese-funded overseas coal projects have started without the necessary legal environmental assessments and permits required by the host country, while other projects have been delayed due to environmental or social impact scandals, or legal challenges, reports ANI, citing the US-based magazine.
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