Climate group 350.org has criticised China’s newly released 2026-2030 five-year plan to expand renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, and reduce carbon emissions, without stating how the country, which accounts for one-third of global emissions, intends to cut air pollution and phase out coal.

The plan was released at China’s ‘Two Sessions’, a meeting of deliberation where over 2000 policymakers and key figures convened in Beijing for one or two weeks to strategise on improving the country’s economy.

The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and the National People’s Congress released their 2026-2030 plan, targeting a 17 per cent reduction in carbon intensity, but 350.org said there was no explicit outline of strategies to reduce emissions.

The group noted that China’s recent approval to build more coal plants across the country, the highest in 10 years, contradicts its ambition to reduce carbon emissions, given that coal is one of the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels.

The climate advocacy group said China’s plan to reduce carbon emissions is insufficient to address this gap and the level of climate waste that would be generated by these new coal plants.

“This is insufficient progress,” said Andreas Sieber, associate director of policy and campaigns at 350.org, in a statement on Thursday. “China has built more renewable energy than the rest of the world combined, but this plan still does not clearly translate that progress into a fast enough structural and deep decline in emissions.”

It added, “People want clean air, stable energy prices and climate security. China’s next development phase must deliver more than clean energy growth, it must end fossil fuel expansion.”