China's Belt Road Initiative (BRI) is a threat to climate change and is responsible for causing environmental degradation as almost 90 per cent of its energy projects are carbon-intensive and operate on fossil fuel, a think tank has said.
The BRI is set to aggravate environmental degradation and climate change further by contributing to the burning of carbon dioxide (CO2), International Forum For Rights and Security (IFFRAS) said on Friday.Coal-burning accounts for nearly 46 per cent of global CO2 emissions while 72 per cent of greenhouse gases from the electricity sector.
The BRI project -- that's spread across the five continents -- will have serious, negative impacts on Earth. Under Chinese control, environmental guidelines are rarely followed, according to IFFRAS.
At the Woodrow Wilson Center, director of the China Environment Forum Jennifer Turner said, "What China is selling is the China development model, which was energy-intense, no holds barred."
The communist regime has termed BRI as an environmentally sustainable and green project despite the fact that the majority of the projects are dependent on fossil fuels.
In energy and transportation, the Chinese projects will be carried out in a conventional way, according to the World Resources Institute (WRI). And in conventional pattern, the projects won't be committed to low-carbon development strategies and objectives, said IFFRAS.
A report by the WRI said, "From 2014 to 2017, 91 per cent of the energy-sector syndicated loans in which the six major Chinese banks and 61 per cent of the energy-sector loans financed entirely by China Development Bank and/or China Exim bank were in fossil fuels."
However, the communist regime does not publicise the details of the BRI contracts.
As per the Global Environment Institute, at the end of 2016, nearly 240 coal-fired projects were planned in different countries under BRI.
( With inputs from ANI )
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