--- description: Experts say the reason China underreported the coal it's burning is probably more bureaucratic inefficiency than underhanded plotting. title: Why China’s Coal Burning Confession Isn’t Entirely Bad News image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3795d3dcdb64c873/69886f835f570f57cbb1e2ae/china-coal-carbon.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why China’s Coal Burning Confession Isn’t Entirely Bad News  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2015 10:13 PM CUT  Coal burning powerplant in China Coal burning powerplant in ChinaChristian Petersen-Clausen—Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Nov 4, 2015 10:13 PM CUT In the wake of China’s announcement that it had [consumed far more coal than previously reported](http://time.com/4099460/china-coal-carbon/ "undefined"), critics are sure to raise concerns about the country’s reliability in the fight against climate change. But experts say the real reason China underreported the amount of coal it’s burning is probably more a matter of bureaucratic inefficiency than underhanded plotting. The new figures, finalized in China’s annual statistics yearbook published Wednesday, show that China burned up to 17% more coal annually since 2000 than previously reported; in 2013, that was the equivalent to a year’s worth of carbon emissions from Germany. The numbers came as little surprise to energy experts who said that China has slowly become better at measuring and reporting energy use and carbon dioxide pollution in recent years, as the country has renewed its commitment to addressing climate change. Experts attributed much of the previously unreported coal consumption to broadly scattered plants and factories that the national government may have difficulty regulating. “This has been coming for awhile,” said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The Chinese would be the first to acknowledge that they need to continue to invest in their monitoring and transparency regime domestically to get a better handle on emissions.” **Read More**: [China Shows It’s Getting Serious About Climate Change](http://time.com/4050702/china-shows-its-getting-serious-about-climate-change/ "undefined") China has ramped up its efforts against global warming in recent years, including by promising to introduce measures to ensure transparency. The country has [collaborated](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/18/AR2009111803058.html "undefined") with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to improve its measurement and reporting techniques since as early as 2009. Other measures have sought to decrease reliance on coal and other energy sources that produce high levels of carbon pollution. Last year, the country committed to peaking its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 if not earlier. New coal plants have been banned altogether in some urban areas near the country’s eastern seaboard. And the country announced a national cap and trade program this September. The news comes less than a month before leaders from around the world gather at an international conference in Paris to address climate change. China—the world’s largest emitter—has portrayed itself as committed to action on the issue and some experts say Wednesday’s announcement underscores that position. “It’s good to know that China isn’t hiding from this,” said Barbara Finamore, senior attorney and Asia director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “China is working hard to monitor carbon emissions.” But in the U.S. the announcement will almost certainly fuel conservative critics of strong action on climate change who argue that China cannot be trusted to follow through on its climate commitments and will ultimately leave the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage. Asked about China’s commitment to cap and trade over the summer, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, chairman of the Senate Environment Committee, [replied](http://time.com/4049192/us-china-climate-change/ "undefined"), “They’re lying.” ### Learn the History of Modern China Through Photobooks  China: From Earth and Balloon: Reproduction of 272 photographs executed by the engineer officers of the expeditionary force with 42 collotype plates and explanatory captions. Paris: Berger-Levrault & Cie., 1902 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  China: From Earth and Balloon: Reproduction of 272 photographs executed by the engineer officers of the expeditionary force with 42 collotype plates and explanatory captions. Paris: Berger-Levrault & Cie., 1902 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Cover of Peking the Beautiful by Herbert C. White. Shanghai: The Commercial Press, Limited, 1927 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Slipcase and cover from China. Beijing: publisher unknown, 1959 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Cover from The Great Hall of the People Beijing: People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1959 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection from Chairman Mao is the Red Sun in Our Hearts. Beijing: People's Fine Arts Publishing House, 1967 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection from Selected Stage Photographs from Revolutionary Model Operas. Beijing: China Photographic Publishing House, 1976 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior and spread from The Hairy People of China. Shenyang, China: Liaoning Science and Technology Publishing House, 1982 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Cover of Dancing Streets by Mo Yi. Self- published, 1998 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection from Dancing Streets by Mo Yi. Self- published, 1998 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Cover of The Chinese by Liu Zheng. Beijing: Dragon Work Chinese Photo, 2000 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior of The Chinese by Liu Zheng. Beijing: Dragon Work Chinese Photo, 2000 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection of accordion-style pages from The Chain by Chien-Chi Chang. Taiwan: Trolley, 2004 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection from Burtynsky–China by Edward Burtynsky Göttingen, Germany: Steidl, 2005 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015  Interior selection from No. 223 by Lin Zhipeng. Taipei: Revolution- Star Publishing and Creation Co., Ltd., 2012 The Chinese Photobook, Aperture, 2015 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4100263/china-coal-consumption/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4100263/china-coal-consumption/"},"headline":"Why China’s Coal Burning Confession Isn’t Entirely Bad News","datePublished":"2015-11-04T22:13:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:01:03.122Z","description":"And what it means for future climate negotiations","url":"https://time.com/4100263/china-coal-consumption/","keywords":["climate change","China"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3795d3dcdb64c873/69886f835f570f57cbb1e2ae/china-coal-carbon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3795d3dcdb64c873/69886f835f570f57cbb1e2ae/china-coal-carbon.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"china coal carbon","caption":"china coal carbon","creditText":"Christian Petersen-Clausen—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4100263/china-coal-consumption/","name":"Why China’s Coal Burning Confession Isn’t Entirely Bad News"}}]}] ```