Japanese and Western financiers bankroll most overseas coal power plants globally, contrary to the misconception that most new funding comes from public financing entities in China, a Boston University study has found.

The study, by the university’s Global Development Policy Centre, said 87 per cent of total financing for overseas coal power projects came from entities outside China, mostly from Japan, the US and Britain.

Only 13 per cent of coal power capacity that was operational or under development outside China between 2013 and mid-2019 was funded by Chinese entities – dramatically lower than previously cited estimates, which had put the number as high as 70 per cent, the study authors said.

The study coincides with a growing push to dump coal power financing. In May, climate and environment ministers from the G7 countries said “international investments in unabated coal must stop now”. The G7 also committed to “take concrete steps towards an absolute end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021”.

Guest post from South China Morning Post