China’s top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), has approved three “billion-dollar” coal mine projects “as the country continues to support the fuel that much of the rest of the world is shunning”, Bloomberg reports. It says that the authority issued the approval on Monday. [But official statements show that the sign-off dates were last Tuesday and Wednesday.] The three projects – two in Shaanxi province and one in Inner Mongolia – “will require a total investment of 24.1bn yuan ($3.8bn) and produce 19m tonnes of coal a year”, the outlet says.

Guest post from Bloomberg