China, coal and COP26: can the world's biggest emitter give up its dirty habit?

Those who helped fuel China's growth fear for livelihoods, while power shortages create transition dilemma for Xi JinpingWhen he was a little boy in the 1980s, Wang Xiaojun was taught to be proud of his home town of Lüliang in the north-western Chinese province of Shanxi. Shanxi is China's biggest coal-producing region, and Lüliang was a significant base for the Red Army during the second world war.Nestled in the mountains of the dusty Loess Plateau, Lüliang, a city of 3.4m people, has had less to shout about in recent years. A series of corruption scandals in the city brought down several high profile officials shortly after President Xi Jinping came to power in 2013; there are concerns over the high number of babies born with congenital defects, blamed by experts on air pollution; and, last week, a huge flood forced coal mines to close just as China scrambles to tackle its energy crunch. Continue reading...