To Hit Climate Targets, China Shouldn’t Build New Coal Power Plants: Report

China should not build any new coal-fired power plants as part of efforts to meet its long-term climate pledges with relatively small economic impact, according to a new study.

Rapidly shuttering inefficient plants and using coal primarily as a supplementary energy source would also help achieve phaseout of coal by 2050, in line with China’s goals under the Paris Agreement, the study said. That agreement aims to keep global heating well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and shoot for a target of 1.5 C.