China’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions fell by 1% in the second quarter of 2026, as oil consumption plummeted amid the strait of Hormuz crisis.
The country’s use of oil fell by 9% overall and by 16% for transport, after the disruptions to supply from the Gulf through the strait. This guest post is by:
Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air
China’s total CO2 emissions fell despite a continued rebound in coal-fired power generation.
This is the first time that reductions in oil consumption have been responsible for a fall in CO2 emissions overall – in all previous cases, coal consumption has been the main driver.
The scale of Chinese renewable expansion over the last two years is unprecedented in human history, in just 2025 alone, the amount of renewable Chinese investment in the global south exceeded the Marshall Plan with some countries like Pakistan quietly switching 20% of their electricity production to renewables in less than two years, and that was before the latest war with Iran started