Source: Global Carbon Budget, via Our World in Data
Rising temperatures
China's average surface temperature has risen by roughly 1.1 to 1.6°C since 1901, with the pace accelerating sharply after 1951 to about 0.26°C per decade, faster than the global average.
Source: Journal of Meteorological Research
2025 ranked among China's two warmest years since nationwide records began in 1901. Nine of the ten hottest years on record have occurred since 2001.
Source: Blue Book on Climate Change in China 2026
From 1961 to 2025, China's annual average temperature rose by 0.31°C per decade, exceeding the global average warming rate over the same period.
Source: China Meteorological Administration
Wildlife under pressure
China hosts 1,822 species on the global IUCN Red List and 1,050 vertebrate species on its own national Red List, making it central to global efforts to halt biodiversity loss.
Source: ScienceDirect, 2025
A national assessment found China has already lost an estimated 47.7 percent of historic mammal range at the county level, with birds at 19.75 percent and reptiles and amphibians at 28.8 percent.
Source: PMC, regional species loss study
The giant panda, Yangtze finless porpoise, Chinese pangolin and Siberian tiger remain among the most threatened species, with climate change increasingly disrupting breeding seasons and food availability alongside habitat loss.
Source: Species conservation records
Floods and displacement
China recorded the highest number of new disaster displacements of any country in 2023, at 4.7 million, ahead of Turkey, the Philippines, Somalia and Bangladesh.
Source: IDMC, Migration Data Portal
2024 floods across Guangdong, Hunan, Jiangsu and other provinces forced the relocation of hundreds of thousands of people and caused at least 71 deaths, with the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River both exceeding warning levels.
Source: 2024 flood records
Research modelling flood displacement under different warming scenarios finds China's exposure to flood driven displacement will keep growing at both 1.5°C and 2°C of global warming.
Source: IOPscience, flood displacement modelling
What the government is doing
The world's largest renewable build out
China added a record 430 GW of wind and solar capacity in 2025 alone, bringing total renewable capacity including hydropower to 2,395 GW. The share of renewables in power generation rose from 28% in 2020 to 37% in 2025, while coal's share fell from 63% to 54%.
A new 2035 climate pledge
China's 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution, released November 2025, commits to cutting economy wide net greenhouse gas emissions 7 to 10% from peak levels by 2035, alongside extended renewable capacity and electrification targets.
Possible emissions peak, but not yet certain
Climate Action Tracker estimates China's total emissions may have peaked in 2025 at 14.8 GtCO2e, driven by record renewable deployment outpacing demand growth. Whether this holds depends on coal.
The coal contradiction
Despite record clean energy growth, China approved a record 161 GW of new coal power projects in 2025, with 291 GW still in the pipeline by year end. Coal generation is expected to decline only around 3% by 2030 under current policy, far short of the steep phase out a 1.5°C pathway would require.
Installs more solar and wind than the rest of the world combined and leads global EV production. But it still builds new coal plants and remains the largest emitter by far. The direction is right, the pace is contested.
Climate target
Carbon neutral by 2060
Progress, but not yet enough EditorialTrajectory: Off track Editorial
Underlying figures from 2023. Historical trend covers years with available data from 1990 to 2023.
